


Seek Medical Advice before Dating Nanase Haruka

by freethedoncastertwo



Category: Free!
Genre: Ai just wants to buy breakfast but it always ends in tears, Humour, I can’t have my boys not swim, M/M, barista prodigy!Haru, coffee shop AU, sadistic!reigisa, stressed waiter!Rin, the reality of coffee shops, yes they still swim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5016748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freethedoncastertwo/pseuds/freethedoncastertwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coffee shop AU? No. No, Rin is pretty sure that this is turning out to be a strangle-everyone-in-the-coffee-shop AU.</p><p>(Rin is a waiter with anger issues and Haru is a barista with a boyfriend.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> It seems like writing new fics in the dead of night is becoming a habit for me, oops. Anyway, I'm really excited for this fic. An alarmingly high percentage of it is inspired by true experiences. On that note, please enjoy!

It’s eight-fifteen in the morning and Rin already wants to cry.

Here’s the thing: Rin knows about fan-fiction. His younger sister is Gou Matsuoka, so yes, thank you; he knows fan fiction quite well. And according to Gou there’s this fan-fiction romance trope known as the ‘coffee shop AU’.  And well, Rin thinks that fan-fiction writers must be pretty delusional, because there’s absolutely nothing cute or romantic about working in a coffee shop.

There’s _especially_ nothing cute or romantic about working in a coffee shop with Nanase Haruka.

No. It’s eight-fifteen and Haru is prepping the coffee machine for the day, with one horrible lock of soft black hair tucked behind his cute horrible ear, and his horrible apron slung recklessly around his horrible lean swimmer’s body. Oh yeah, did Rin mention that? Haru is on Rin’s university swim team. They’re both scholarship kids. It _sucks._

Rin preps the dessert station and minds his own business. But it’s incredibly hard to mind his own business around Haru. Especially at eight-fifteen in the morning, because for some unknown reason, Haru likes to _talk_ when he’s prepping the coffee machine. It’s most uncharacteristic. It’s almost enough to make Rin mistake him for, you know, a polite human being.

(But Rin has seen Haru on night shifts, so he knows better than that.)

“You must feel the coffee,” Haru is murmuring. “Don’t resist it. When I twist the pod into position, you must pour through the tightly-compressed ground coffee beans and find your flow...”

_Holy shit, is he **talking** to the **water?**_

Whatever.

Things start to get busy around eight-thirty, when all the businesspeople flock in for their morning coffees. Haru handles it all smoothly, of course, while Rin hands out pastries and works the till. Rin doesn’t _mind_ the till, per se, but he really wishes that people would stop staring at his shark teeth. He can’t help it that his mouth is more menacing than a hungry wolf.

“Next waiting, please,” Rin says dully. A young woman with brown pigtails steps up to the register. She takes one look at him and her eyes go wide.

Rin smiles brightly, just as his boss has commanded him to. The girl takes a step back. Rin drops the smile and sighs. “May I take your order?”

“One takeaway stabuccino – I-I mean, cappuccino.”

Rin enters the order as she hands him the exact change. “Uhuh. May I have your name for the takeaway?”

“Shark. I mean, bite. I mean, razor – I m-mean, predator – shit, no, I mean –”

“One takeaway cappuccino for Predator, coming right up,” he deadpans. Haru snickers. The girl has the nerve to apologise, so Rin flashes her another smile and she scuttles away.

Rin sniffles. Haru glances at him, so Rin mutters some bullshit about forgetting to take his antihistamines. “Next waiting, please.”

“Rin-senpai!”

Rin is so relieved he could _scream_. Facing him with a cheery smile is Nitori Aiichirou, Rin’s cute little flatmate and fellow student. He’s almost like a pet, really. For a moment Rin genuinely considers patting and crying into his hair; he’s so glad to see a friendly face. But no – he must appear macho, for the sake of his job. Rin clears his throat. “Ai! What are you doing here?”

Ai beams. “Well, I wanted to come and see where you work! And buy some breakfast, of course.”

Rin smiles. “What do you want? It’s on the house.”

“Aw, Rin-senpai, you’re so kind. I’ll have, um, oh! I’ll have an egg roll. And some matcha tea, please.”

Rin hands him the egg roll while Haru makes the matcha tea. There’s a momentary lull in the influx of customers, so Rin chats with Ai for a bit. At length Ai asks, “So how are you finding it here?”

Rin feels this overwhelming urge to be honest. It hits him right in the throat. He lowers his voice, but it still wavers. “It’s _awful_ ,” he confesses. “Yesterday when I was running orders to the tables, some kid kept humming the _Jaws_ theme.” Rin’s tearing up now. He supposes he should’ve expected it – he’s been leading up to a good weep all morning.

The problem with crying to Ai is that he starts crying, too. “Oh, Rin-senpai!” Ai gasps. “That really is awful!” he gazes at Rin sympathetically for a moment, and then the tears come gushing.

This sets Rin off completely, and before he knows it, he’s sobbing into Ai’s shoulder. Ai is sobbing right back. They stay like that for several minutes, until Haru gives Rin a mildly annoyed look and says, “Work now. Cry later.”

And well, that seems to be the defining mantra of Rin’s life.

Ai leaves with his egg roll and matcha tea, and Rin gets back to the till. Haru keeps glancing at Rin like he’s _concerned_ or something. Rin smiles at customers, gives people their change and tries not to fall even more desperately in love with his co-worker. Needless to say, it does not work out well.

-

It’s the lunchtime rush and Rin is Not Coping.

Haru is in charge of food and coffee, while Rin is on till and floor. They _need more staff_ for this shit, but alas, it’s not to be. So Rin is frantically running out orders, collecting table numbers and racing back to the till where customers are waiting. Rin doesn’t have a clue how Haru manages to stay composed through it all. Rin himself is on the verge of living up to his appearance and biting someone’s head off.

To make matters worse, there’s this young couple that have actually _memorised Rin’s roster_ and they come in _every time_ he has a shift, just to sit and laugh at him. They’re sitting at a table by the windows right now, watching him intently. Every time Rin stutters, the blond one yells, “HE STUTTERED! TAKE A SHOT!” Then the blond one and the blue-haired one each chug their coffee like they’re doing shots. Every time Rin glances at Haru, the blond one yells, “HE OGLED THE BARISTA! TAKE A SHOT!” Every time some jerk customer makes a shark pun, the blond one yells, “SHARK PUN! TAKE A SHOT!” And between all the ‘shots’ they just laugh hysterically. Rin really hopes that one day a vulture will peck out their brains.

The worst part is that Rin can tell that Haru’s trying _really_ hard not to find it funny. Haru doesn’t outright laugh, of course, but his mouth keeps twitching upwards and he’s side-eyeing Rin a _lot_.

Rin’s just about to give up on everything for all eternity when the bane of his existence walks through the door.

The bane of Rin’s existence ruffles his soft brown hair and walks casually over to Haru. The bane of Rin’s existence bends down – like, way, _way_ down – to kiss Haru on the top of his head. The bane of Rin’s existence presents Haru with a wrapped bento box. Haru looks up at the bane of Rin’s existence and they share a private smile.

The bane of Rin’s existence is a 6’1” sweetheart with charming green eyes and a smile so kind that Rin almost wants to punch it off his face – but every time he tries, he just _can’t_ , because the bane of Rin’s existence is just so utterly, wonderfully kind. The bane of Rin’s existence is named Tachibana Makoto, and he’s Haru’s boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I almost feel bad about the evil reigisa here, but I really think that Nagisa could drag Rei into doing pretty much anything.)  
>    
> (Edit: Just to be completely clear, the focus of this fic will be RinHaru! It's literally endgame RinHaru, with a fair bit of MakoHaru thrown into the mix. If you're not comfortable reading a fic that has both pairings, the good news is that you don't have to! Really. You can go and watch videos of funny pets or something. Be free, flower children.)


	2. Chapter 2

There is a small blond demon sprawled on Rin’s counter.

It’s not really Rin’s counter – it’s the coffee shop’s counter. But right now, Rin is the only staff member in the coffee shop, so it _is_ Rin’s problem.

Maybe the blond demon (who is also one half of the foul couple that like to laugh at Rin’s misfortunes) has mistaken the counter for its under-worldly nest. Rin whacks it with a tea towel. “Hey, chibi. Get off my counter.”

The demon looks up and pokes its almost-human tongue at Rin. “No. I’m sad today.”

Rin snorts. “Do I look like I care?”

The demon studies Rin. “Yes,” it concludes.

Rin frowns. He examines his face in the reflection of a spoon. _Do I really look like I care?_ He prods his face carefully, as if that might fix the problem.

“Rei’s visiting his parents,” the demon sighs, even though Rin didn’t ask. “I had to stay here for exams.” Rin doesn’t respond. Maybe if he doesn’t talk to it, it will just go away.  “I hate exams,” it adds emphatically. “I hate being away from Rei.”

 _Oh my goodness, it won’t shut up_. Rin flicks it with the tea towel. “Do you want my advice?”

The demon’s face lights up hopefully. It’s a very unnerving sight; the face of a hopeful demon. “Yeah?”

Rin smiles thinly. “Suck it up. And get off my counter.”

The demon rolls his – **_it’s_** _, dammit_ – eyes. But he – _it!!!_ – slides off the counter. He sticks out his hand. “I’m Hazuki Nagisa.”

Rin cautiously shakes the hand. “Matsuoka Rin.”

Nagisa beams. “Rin-chan it is!”

Rin frowns. “Um, no, Rin-chan it’s _not_.”

Nagisa plucks a cookie from the cookie jar. He takes a bite from it. “Anyway,” he says while chewing, “we need to talk about _your_ problem.”

“Hey!” Rin exclaims angrily. “You need to pay for that. And I don’t have a problem. And I’m _not_ talking about it with you.”

“Aha!” Nagisa cheers, cookie crumbs falling out of his mouth. “So you admit that there is a problem!”

Rin hands him a tissue. “For goodness’ _sake_ , wipe your face. And I admit nothing.” Nagisa stares into his soul. He must have some demonic soul-persuading ability, because at length Rin huffs, “Fine! But you’ll have to specify which problem you mean. I have a few.”

Nagisa giggles. “Your crush on Haru-chan, of course!”

Rin slaps Nagisa with the tea towel so hard and fast that Nagisa yelps. “Shut up! How do you _know_ about that?” he hisses.

Nagisa rubs his elbow, where he got towel-slapped. “Every customer here who has functioning _eyes_ knows about that.” He shrugs. “And besides, I can’t talk about crushes with _Haru-chan_. He doesn’t cope well with people interfering. So I’ll have to settle for talking to you.”

Rin scowls. “What do you mean, _settle for talking to me?_ I’m a great conversationalist!” The rest of what Nagisa said dawns on him. “Wait, you know Haru? Like, actually _know_ him?”

Nagisa grins. “Yeah, of course! He, Mako-chan, Rei and I were in the same swimming team in high school! We even competed at nationals together.”

“ _What?!_ Haru never told me that. Why doesn’t Haru tell me stuff?” He studies Nagisa more closely and realises that he does actually look really familiar – like Rin has seen him around at tournaments before.

Nagisa pats his arm sympathetically. “Join the club, Rin-chan.” He drums his fingers on the counter. “Anyway. When are you going to make a move on Haru-chan?”

Rin mockingly checks his watch. “Oh, just about _never_. What the heck, Hazuki? I can’t make a move on Haru.”

Nagisa pouts. “Why not?”

“Because he’s dating Makoto!”

For a moment Nagisa just stares at Rin. He slowly, slowly takes another cookie from the cookie jar. He slowly, slowly raises it to his mouth. He slowly, slowly chews it and gulps it down. Then he hums in agreement. “You’re right, Rin-chan. We can’t talk about your problem. It’s a lot more complicated than I thought.”

“ _Thank_ you,” Rin says, though he’s not really sure that he is thankful. “You need to pay for those cookies.”

Nagisa tries to talk about Rei next. But Rin really, _really_ doesn’t care, and also he’s got customers to serve. So eventually Nagisa goes to slump at his table by the window and make a haphazard attempt at studying.

Rin checks his reflection a few times in the coffee machine. Much to his dismay, his face actually does look a little caring. _I don’t care_ , he tells it sternly. _I **don’t**._

-

Rin’s friend and co-worker, Sousuke, comes in for his shift at 1pm. Rin goes on his break and eats lunch in the storage room behind the kitchen. He sits on an upside-down milk crate and tries to pretend that he’s at the Olympics. His phone rings. He checks the screen. It’s Gou.

“Hey,” he answers her. “What’s up?”

“Big brother!” Gou gushes. She sounds even cheerier than usual, which usually means that she’s done something. “Guess what?”

Rin sighs. “What?”

“I bought you a subscription to a magazine!”

Rin doesn’t recall ever wanting a subscription to a magazine. “Uh... thanks? What magazine is it?”

Gou hesitates. “Well...”

Rin huffs. “Gou?”

“It’s called _Positive Thinking Weekly_. I think you’ll love it!”

Rin can’t imagine something more horrid. His sister might as well just hit him over the head with a puppy. “Positive thinking? How the heck would they find enough content to sell shit like that on a weekly basis?”

Gou groans. “Please just read some of it. I think it’ll be good for you.”

Rin purses his lips.

“ _Please_ , Rin?”

Rin sighs. “Okay, okay. I’ll read your weird hippie magazine. But Gou?”

“Yes, big brother?” she says in a whispery, high-pitched voice, like she’s trying to contain her excitement.

“I swear to _fuck_ that I’m not making any flower crowns.”

Gou squeals. Then she clears her throat. “No flower crowns will be necessary, I promise. Thanks, big brother! And hey, call me more often. Call me anytime. I want to hear about how your life is going. Okay?”

Rin smiles in spite of himself. “Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too! I’ll let you get back to whatever you’re doing.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye!”

Rin hangs up. He’s still smiling like an idiot. He probably hasn’t given Gou much of a reason to care about her big brother, but she clearly does, a _lot_ , and it’s sweet.

-

Before the end of Rin’s shift, he ducks into the bathroom to quickly fix his hair and check that he looks okay. The reason? Haru’s shift this afternoon starts just as Rin’s finishes. Rin stands by what he said to Nagisa – he’s _not_ going to make a move on Haru, especially not when Haru is dating the male equivalent of Mary Poppins – but the primitive, instinctive part of him would still like to look nice.

Rin leaves the bathroom just as Haru walks into the coffee shop. Rin is just about to smile brightly and scream hello at Haru like he’s made of hippie sunshine – and then he sees Makoto, and his heart sinks.

Oh, no.

_No._

Makoto’s carrying a guitar case.

“Hey, Haru,” Sousuke greets the pair from the coffee machine. “Hey, Makoto. Are you playing tonight?”

Makoto nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! We’ve been getting regular gigs at the pub on the corner lately; it’s so much fun.” Then he wrinkles his nose. “Kisumi keeps trying to talk me into doing a shirtless show, though. The owner’s really keen for it. We might actually do it tonight.”

Sousuke lets a loud, booming laugh. Makoto blushes, chuckling along. Even Haru smiles. Rin’s soul morphs into a cockroach and dies.

Makoto plays guitar. It’s not that Rin was ever planning on competing with Makoto or anything like that, but now, now he _knows_ that he _can’t_. Rin cannot possibly hope to compete with a guy who plays guitar.

Haru’s eyes scan the coffee shop and settle on Rin. Rin hastily grabs his things and signs out. “Hey,” Haru greets him.

“Hey,” Rin returns gruffly. He hurries past Haru with his head down and dashes out the door.

When Rin gets home, he calls Gou and cries.

-

“Okay, let me get this straight,” Gou says after about forty minutes of Rin incoherently sobbing. “You’re upset because Makoto plays guitar?”

“Yes!” Rin wails. “And he’s in a band with some shirtless guy called Kisumi, and they probably sound like rock stars. O _h my goodness_ , Gou, Haru’s dating a rock star!”

Gou pauses. “Rin... you know I love you, and that your sensitivity is a wonderful gift. But... don’t you think you might be overreacting to this?”

Rin scowls. “Makoto’s a rock star. Haru’s probably going to marry him and have millionaire babies. And one day they’ll bring their millionaire babies to visit the crappy coffee shop where I work, and I’ll _still be there_ , and Haru will say, ‘oh, Rin, are you seeing anybody?’ And I won’t be seeing anybody, because my _one true love_ will be standing right in front of me with his perfect husband who plays guitar. So no, Gou, I don’t think I’m overreacting to this.”

Gou sighs. “Rin, stop that. You’ve been planning for your future since you were five years old. And you know what? You’re _good at it_. You’re going to be a very successful professional swimmer. And you’re going to be happy. You’re going to move on from Haru, and you’ll find somebody new. Somebody better. Do you know how I know that?”

Rin pouts. “No. How?”

“Because you’re _Rin_ and you always find a way to bounce back.”

Rin does actually feel a bit better, hearing that. Just a little bit. “Thanks, Gou.”

He can almost _hear_ her smiling. “You’re welcome. Now, what was that about a shirtless guy called Kisumi?”

Rin rolls his eyes. “I don’t know; he’s some guy in Makoto’s band. They’re giving a shirtless performance at the pub down the road from my work.”

There’s a moment of silence on the other end of the line. “I must go suddenly.”

Rin groans. “Gou –”

“Oh – oh no! My roommate, she’s having an emergency!” Rin’s pretty sure that Gou’s shaking a container of rice. “She’s having an apocalypse! I mean, she’s apoplectic! I must rush her to the hospital right now, right this second!”

“I know you’re going to the shirtless show. Gou, you live almost an hour away!”

“I will save her life, big brother. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck staring at shirtless guys,” Rin says drily.

“Silly big brother, you can’t stare at shirtless guys in the hospital.” More silence. “...Can you?”

Rin face-palms. “Oh, whatever. Have fun.”

“I will have fun only when my roommate’s life is saved,” she says very solemnly. Then, “Bye, big brother! I’ll send you a picture.”

“Bye. And please don’t.”

Gou hangs up. Five minutes later she texts him, **_remember what I said!!!_**

As Rin falls asleep that night, he thinks about swimming instead of his job or Haru. And for the first night in a while, he doesn’t feel too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Nagisa didn't pay for the cookies.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the lovely comments so far!
> 
> I'm really excited for the upcoming chapters. Alas, if only I could write cathartic humorous Free! fics 100% of the time. That would be perfectly fine with me.
> 
> Anyhoo, I hope you like the new chapter. The drama is approaching, oh yes.

Rin has decided that for his next stunning career move, he’s going to be a turtle.

Turtles don’t have to smile at customers. Turtles don’t have _‘must be_ _good at taking verbal abuse’_ written somewhere in the fine print of their job description. In fact, Rin’s pretty sure that turtles don’t even _have_ a job description. They just live. They just swim and live. Yes, the turtle life is for Rin.

Unfortunately the universe doesn’t seem to agree with Rin’s newfound calling. He’s still here in this awful coffee shop. It’s a sweltering hot day, the cake fridge keeps messing up (which, in turn, is making the mousses melt), and Haru has apparently decided that it’s okay to work in his swimming trunks.

Yep. That’s right.

Rin keeps jumping when Haru walks by and eyeing the clock shiftily. Their boss is scheduled to arrive in thirty minutes. Last time Haru worked in his swimming trunks, the boss hit him with a broom. There were leftover bits of glass in the broom and one of them got embedded in Haru’s arm. Rin nearly bit the boss right then, but fortunately Makoto was there to somehow hold Rin back from snapping at the boss’ face while simultaneously tending to Haru.

So Haru wearing swimming trunks at work is a bit of a predicament for Rin, because Makoto’s not here – and very soon the boss will be. If Haru gets hit with a broom again, Rin’s just not sure that he could be held back from biting this time. And Rin would really like to not get fired today, thank you.

The other problem with Haru wearing swimming trunks at work almost goes without saying, but Rin’s going to say it anyway: Haru’s fucking hot. It’s all Rin can do to keep from staring. It’s never this bad during their swimming practices, because then _everybody’s_ dressed like that and it’s normal. But Haru has this way of inadvertently drawing attention to himself; purely by virtue of _being_ himself. It's aggravatingly cute.

Rin sighs. He wouldn’t have to deal with any of this if he was a turtle.

“Haru,” he says.

Haru looks up from where he’s carefully cleaning the coffee machine. A few girls they’ve just served are glancing at Haru and giggling. Haru remains oblivious to them. He tilts his head questioningly. “Yeah?”

“Please put some clothes on.”

Haru frowns. “But it’s hot.”

“But you’re working!”

“I’m working and it’s hot.” Haru speaks slowly, as if Rin is a small child. His voice sounds amazing and – _that’s not the issue here!_

Rin runs his hands through his hair. “Not wearing clothes at work is a safety hazard.”

“Why?”

“Because if the boss sees you he’ll hit you with a broom!”

Haru shrugs. Rin considers bringing out the waterworks. “At least put some shoes on. _Please_.”

Haru pauses for a moment, considering. “Okay.”

Rin wants to hug him. And maybe kiss him. And maybe – never mind. “ _Thank_ you. Jeez.”

Haru disappears into the bathroom, and when he comes back he’s wearing his full outfit – shoes included. He smiles just slightly at Rin. “Do I look alright?”

Rin does a gleeful dance before he can contain himself. “You look perfect. If I were a model scout I’d scout you.”

Haru blinks. “But do I look alright for work?”

_Oh. Fuck._ “Um – yes. I don’t think the boss will assault you.”

Haru nods and goes to serve the next customer. “Good. We wouldn’t want you trying to bite him again,” he says smoothly. And then the fucker actually _winks_.

Rin is doomed.

-

The boss has come and gone, the afternoon is trickling away slowly but steadily, and the heat has finally died down a little. Rin and Haru are idling about in between customers; folding take-away boxes and chatting about swimming.

That’s when Haru gets the call.

Haru lazily takes his phone out of his pocket when it buzzes. When he sees Makoto’s name on the screen, he frowns. That’s the first sign that tells Rin that something’s off. Haru usually smiles when Makoto calls, but it’s like his intuition has already told him that there’s something wrong. Rin waits anxiously.

Haru answers. “Hey, Makoto.”

As Haru listens to the response, his frown deepens. Rin can’t make out what Makoto’s saying, but his voice sounds panicked. Haru pinches the bridge of his nose. “Makoto, wait. Try to slow down; I can’t understand a word you’re saying.” Rin hears Makoto take a breath and try again. Haru listens for what seems like ages. When he speaks again, his voice is soothing. “Okay. I’ll be there soon. Don’t worry, yeah? You’re going to be fine. The doctors said so.” There’s a subdued response from Makoto. Haru bites his lip. “I love you. I’m on my way now.” This time, Rin hears the response: _“I love you too.”_

Haru hangs up. His fingers are shaking. “I need to go to the hospital. Can you cover for me?”

Rin frowns. “Yes, of course. What happened?”

“Makoto got bitten by a snake.”

“ _What?_ ”

Haru looks at Rin. His usually passive face is suddenly expressive – still in his subtle, _Haru_ way, but the fear is there. He’s frantic, with his blue eyes wide and his jaw tight. “There was a snake in the yard at the swim school where he coaches. It was about to bite one of the kids, so Makoto jumped in and grabbed it. But it bit him instead.”

“Well... is he going to be okay?”

Haru nods. “I think so. He said that the doctors don’t think it was a deadly snake. He’s just – he’s really scared. I need to be there.” Haru clamps his lips closed and gazes at Rin. Rin realises that this is probably as close as Haru gets to begging.

Rin waves him away. “Okay, go. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of things here.”

Haru gives one thankful nod, grabs his things and hurries out the door. Rin watches his disappearing figure. And all of a sudden, Rin can’t find it in himself to be _upset_ anymore.

He doesn’t feel upset when he thinks about how Haru and Makoto are perfect for each other. He doesn’t feel upset when he thinks about how Haru doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, or any of that. There’s just this weird sense of gratitude that they have each other. He thinks of the look on Haru’s face after that phone call, and everything just shifts slightly. Or maybe it’s only his perspective that’s shifting. Rin pictures Haru clambering into his car to get to the hospital, and he wishes him godspeed.

-

Rin swims and thinks.

It’s late at night, and he’s the only one in the pool at the university gym. When it’s quiet like this, the atmosphere is almost sacred. It feels worlds away from Rin’s messy life.

Despite the scare this afternoon, Rin feels lighter somehow. Maybe the emotional effect of Makoto’s near-death experience has been transferred to him. He swims for what feels like hours. At some point, he notices Haru sitting at the edge of the pool.

Rin swims over. “Yo.”

Haru waves. “Hey. I thought I’d find you here.”

Rin doesn’t bother asking how Haru knew that. Maybe it’s partly Haru’s odd sixth sense, but it’s also partly because of their mutual understanding. Rin’s not sure what the link is between them or what it is that they share. But they always gravitate to this place.

Rin rests his arms on the edge of the pool. “Is Makoto okay?”

Haru nods. “He’s fine. The effects of the snake bite should wear off tomorrow or the next day, according to the doctors. They gave him some pretty strong painkillers, so he’s at home sleeping them off.”

Rin is so relieved that he ducks his head underwater for a moment to hide his expression. He can’t have Haru thinking that he’s soft. He comes up for air and pulls himself out of the pool to sit next to Haru. “Thank goodness.”

Haru sighs. “Yeah.” He presses his lips together. The atmosphere around him has settled now that Makoto’s okay, but he still seems vulnerable. “Thank you,” he murmurs. “For today.”

Rin laughs awkwardly. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You took care of things while I was gone.”

Rin bumps against his shoulder playfully. “No biggie.”

Haru actually laughs. “ _Gosh_ , you’re so...” He pushes his fringe out of his eyes. “I’m trying to thank you.”

Rin smiles mischievously. “And I’m trying to train for the Olympics. Want to race?”

Haru shakes his head. “Not tonight.” And then he hugs Rin.

Rin startles, but slowly he relaxes into it. Haru’s mouth is so close to his neck that Rin can feel Haru’s breath on his skin. Rin hugs Haru back, because he clearly needs the comfort right now. ( _And_ , a selfish little part of him says, _because it feels nice_.) They stay like that for so long that Rin thinks he could fall asleep here, with nothing in his world but the air, the water and Haru. It feels intimate. It feels right.

But it also feels very confusing. Makoto is injured at home, and Haru is _here_ , hugging Rin. Haru came looking for him. What on Earth does that mean? Rin pulls away.

He coughs. “Well, Haru, this has been nice. But I’ve got to head off now! Exams to study for, sleep to chase, races to win and all that. See you later!” He waves his goodbye and practically runs from the pool.

Haru is shaken, sure. Haru is vulnerable, sure. Rin can handle that. But it doesn’t seem right that when Rin dashes away, Haru looks a little bit heartbroken.

Rin thuds his head against his locker in the changing room and tells himself that he’s just misinterpreting it. Haru is sad over what happened to Makoto. That’s all.

Rin runs again as he leaves the university for the night. He trips and falls. “Argh!” he hollers in frustration. He rolls onto his back and pretends that he’s a stuck turtle. It doesn’t help.


	4. Chapter 4

Rin does not understand why his workplace gets so busy at exactly four in the afternoon. If Rin had a time machine, he would go back to the Renaissance, hunt down Leonardo da Vinci and ask him _why, Mr. Genius-Pants, why does the shitty coffee shop I work at get busy at exactly four in the afternoon, without fail? What is the cosmic meaning of this?_

But Rin doesn’t have a time machine. No. Rin has a packet of noodles in his backpack, a barely-passable education in latte art and a sore on his arm from where he bit himself in frustration fifteen minutes ago.

Today it’s a particularly bad day. Haru’s not here. But _screw you, brain, that’s not the reason it’s bad._ Sousuke’s on the register because the jerk broke his wrist and therefore can’t make coffee, which means that Rin’s on barista station.

Rin’s on barista station, and oh yeah, there’s a queue of customers so long that they’re lining up outside the door.

Rin is simultaneously trying to figure out what a _long macchiato_ is and considering various ways to blast himself through the roof and into space, never to be seen again. But doing so would be pretty slack to Sousuke. Rin might be a crappy barista, but he is a Good Friend.

The next coffee docket comes through. In the notes section it reads, _‘DRY CAPPUCCINO’._

Rin just stares at it blankly for a second.

“Sousuke,” he calls eventually.

Sousuke glances over from the register. “Yeah?”

“What in the _holiest temple of fuck_ is a dry cappuccino?”

Sousuke grimaces. “The lady wants it with all froth; no flat milk.”

Rin almost chokes in disgust. “What? No. I’m not doing that.”

Sousuke shrugs, because Sousuke is ninety kilograms of pure apathy. “You’re the one who’ll have to deal with it when she complains, then.”

Rin growls and makes the dry cappuccino. He actually has to scoop out the froth with a spoon. He grumbles under his breath the whole time. “Giant babycino, that’s what it is... _Haru_ could probably bend the milk with his _mind_... I’m moving to the Bahamas...”

Five new drink orders come through right at that second, and Rin suddenly loses track of what he’s doing. He can’t do this. There are too many orders. _Too many._

Rin is just about to hop into a time machine and surrender himself to the monarchy of medieval France for prompt decapitation when he hears a voice.

It’s not a heavenly voice. Actually, it’s an annoyingly familiar voice. “Rin-chan!”

_Oh, no._

Nagisa comes skipping in, tailed by Rei and Makoto. He leans his face on the coffee machine, dirtying several polished cups. “Hey, Rin-chan! What are ya doing?”

Rin sneers. “Oh, I’m just touching-up my Sunday embroidery – what does it _look like_ I’m doing, you simple fuck?!”

Nagisa jumps back. “Whoa, scary!” He seems to brush it off pretty quickly, because in the next second he’s grabbing Rei and pulling him forward. “Rin-chan, you haven’t properly met my boyfriend, Rei-chan!” He clicks his fingers expectantly, “Now, _meet_.”

Rei pushes his glasses up his nose, suddenly looking awkward. “Well, hello.”

Rin gives Rei a scathing look. _Someone’s_ got to feel guilty for the couple’s previous horrid treatment of him, and clearly that someone is not going to be Nagisa, so it’ll have to be Rei. “Yeah, hi.”

Rei loses the awkwardness and smiles brightly. “I’m glad to finally meet you properly! You’ve got something in your teeth, by the way. It’s not very beautiful.”

Rin feels the corners of his mouth pull downwards. He’s pretty sure he’s just been betrayed by the laws of the universe. “It’s human flesh,” he snaps. “You’re next.”

Makoto clears his throat. “Now, now. Stop that,” he says pointedly to Rei and Nagisa. Then he smiles sweetly. “Rin, you seem a bit stressed. Do you want some help making these coffees?”

Rin feels caught between crying and proclaiming Makoto as his true lord and saviour. “You know how to make coffee?”

Makoto shrugs. “Yeah. Haru and I learned together, actually.”

_Of course_. Rin shuffles over so that Makoto can work beside him, and together they get through the overwhelming mound of coffee orders. Rin is acutely aware that Rei and Nagisa are watching them intently. He’s also aware that they’re trying very hard not to comment. Makoto seems to be aware of this too, because he keeps blushing and giving them frustrated looks. (The Makoto-version of frustrated, anyway.)

When the line-up-of-orders-to-be-made gets shorter and the coffee shop finally gets a little emptier, something weird happens. Makoto and Nagisa seem to have a silent argument. Or at least a silent _something_. Nagisa is staring at Makoto with his eyes narrowed, and Makoto slightly shakes his head, looking completely exasperated. Rei pushes his glasses up his nose and tilts his head. Then Nagisa tilts his head at Makoto as if it’s a challenge. They look like creepy dolls. If Rin was Makoto he’d run for the hills right now.

By far the most annoying thing about the whole exchange is that Haru’s and Makoto’s freaky telepathy thing seems to be spreading. If everyone’s telepathic now, Rin is done.

Eventually things quiet down enough that Sousuke can go on his break. The poor guy looks exhausted, so Rin pats him on the arm and tells him to go and rejuvenate.

Rin turns back to see Nagisa badgering Makoto again – but loudly this time. “Show us the snake bite!” he’s cheering. “Show us the snake bite!”

Makoto glances between Nagisa and Rei, who is covering his eyes with his hands, rocking back and forth. “No...” Rei moans.

Rin sidles over. “I want to see it too.”

Makoto sighs. “Okay...” He begins to unravel a thin bandage from his arm, just underneath his elbow.

Nagisa narrates it like they’re watching a nature documentary. “The Mako-chan slowly removes the bandage... slowly, slowly... we keenly await the sight that lies beneath... the life of a nature filmmaker involves endless waiting for that perfect shot... you’d think the Mako-chan could hurry up just a _little_...”

Makoto laughs. “ _Alright_ , I’m finished,” he huffs, showing Nagisa and Rin the snake bite.  Rei risks a peek and goes pale.

Makoto redresses the wound, while Nagisa chats on and on about it. Soon he and Rei get absorbed in their own kooky little discussion, leaving Rin to talk to Makoto.

Rin makes himself some peppermint tea. “So, Makoto. You’re a teaching major, right?” There, that sounds like good small talk. Rin is a mature adult who can make small talk with his crush’s boyfriend.

Makoto smiles, welcoming the chance to chat. “Yes, that’s right. Actually, I’m double-majoring. My other stream is music.”

Rin nods. “Yeah, I saw you with your guitar the other day.”

Makoto chuckles bashfully. “I was heading to a performance at the pub.”

Rin smirks. “The shirtless thing?”

Makoto grimaces. “Yeah... that’s what happens when Kisumi has ideas.”

Rin barks in unexpected laughter. “Makoto! I wouldn’t expect you to say something so mean.”

Makoto’s jaw drops open. “I wasn’t – I was kidding, I –”

“Relax, it’s funny,” Rin assures him. “Did you have fun, though?”

Makoto shakes his head firmly. “No. There was this scary red-haired girl in the audience who kept trying to climb on stage and grab my muscles.” He shudders.

Rin mentally face-palms. _Oh, Gou._

“Well,” Rin says casually, because he’s ever-so-mature and cool, “Haru must have enjoyed the show.”

Makoto freezes. “Pardon?”

Rin frowns. “Haru must have enjoyed the show. _Haru_ , you know, your boyfriend, about yay high...” he continues, indicating Haru’s height with his hand. “He really likes water – hey, why are you laughing?!”

Makoto dissolves into giggles. Rei groans and passes Nagisa a wad of cash. Nagisa grins.

Makoto catches his breath. “Sorry, Rin. It’s just – Haru and I aren’t dating.”

**_What?_ **

Rin gapes as all of his memories of past interactions with Haru and Makoto rearrange themselves. “You’re... not... _egegh...?_ ”

Makoto shakes his head. “We dated for two years in high school. And we’re childhood best friends. But that’s it.”

Rin flounders as he tries to process this. “But... you’re so affectionate with each other.”

Makoto shrugs sheepishly. “Old habits die hard, I guess?”

“Makoto just really loves people!” Nagisa interjects cheerfully. Makoto throws him a grateful look. They seem to make peace.

Rin shakes his head. “No, wait. _No_. You live together. You bring him bentos. He was the first person you called when you got bitten by that snake!”

Makoto winces. “I’m sorry if I misled you with any of that. We really are just good friends.”

A frightening, wonderful thought occurs to Rin. “So... I mean, since you’re _not_ dating anymore...” He trails off helplessly. Makoto looks confused.

“Rin wants to know if you’d be fine with him trying to woo Haru!” Nagisa translates.

 “Shut up!” Rin hisses at Nagisa. He turns back to Makoto. “But yeah... what he said.”

Makoto beams. “Oh! Yes, of course! Go for it, Rin.” He turns back breezily to the coffee machine and makes himself a decaf latte.

Apparently that’s that, then.

Rin sips his tea in shock. “I still can’t believe it.”

Nagisa slaps the counter, laughing. Rei snickers into his mocha. (Wait, how the heck did he get a mocha without Rin noticing?)

“Silly Rin!” Nagisa exclaims. “You know that English expression... mm...” Nagisa taps his chin as he thinks for a moment. Then he says, in _very_ broken English, “When you assume you make ass from you to me!”

Rin snarls in bilingual outrage. “That’s not how the saying goes!” Nagisa beams proudly. Rin drapes a tea-towel over his head. “Please never attempt to speak English again.”

Nagisa whips the tea-towel off and head-butts Rin _hard_. “Hey! I’m good at English!” Then, to Rin’s absolute and utter horror, Nagisa begins to sing American pop. “Do you ever have that dream... where you’re walking naked down the street... and everyone just staaaaaares?”

Rin gasps in total horror. He knows this song.

_Jennifer Love Hewitt._  Nagisa is singing ‘BareNaked’ by Jennifer Love Hewitt.

“Stop singing!” Rin howls, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “And leave my queen alone.”

Rei and Makoto start giggling like children. Customers are beginning to stare.

Nagisa gets up onto the counter and sits in a sexy pose. “Do you ever feel so deep... that you speak your mind, you put others straight to sleep?”

“ _You’re_ going to put me on the streets!” Rin exclaims.

“YOU WONDER IF ANYBODY CAAAARES!” Nagisa continues, horribly out of tune and with horrible pronunciation.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._ Rin glances desperately at Makoto for help. But Makoto must be possessed by an evil impostor, because he’s taking his guitar out, and in seconds he’s playing along. His strumming pattern and chords are perfect, too.

“How the _fuck_ do you people know this song?” Rin cries despairingly. With Rin’s luck, his boss will probably stop by and see this happening. Rin’s going to get hit with a broom. They’re all going to get hit with a broom.

Makoto sits on a table by the window where the sun hits him perfectly. With his stupid jeans, stupid guitar, stupid collarbones and stupid v-neck it looks just like a scene from a music video. Nagisa, meanwhile, is twirling around like a drunken penguin. Rin is absolutely done with both of them.

Customers are starting to bob their heads appreciatively in time to the music. “No,” Rin tells them. “This isn’t supposed to be happening. Please stop bobbing. Please stop bobbing!”

Nagisa dances over to Rin and cups his face in his hands. “And I know it’s haaaaard.... to hold it inside...”

Rin tries to bite him but Nagisa twirls away. “It’s days like theeese... I run and hide when I feel... BARENAKED!”

Rin sits down and curls into a ball. “I want my mum.”

“And I... just CAN’T TAKE IT!”

Rin rocks back and forth. “I want my mum, I want my mum...”

Nagisa grinds to the next line. “I’m getting laided...”

Rin jumps up and throws a paper cup at Nagisa. “It’s _jaded!_ ” he hisses. “I’m getting _jaded!_ Stop butchering a perfectly good song!”

“Noooo I just can’t FAKE IT ANYMORE!”

Rei has somehow acquired a set of bongo drums. He starts drumming to the beat.

Sousuke comes back from his break right at that second. Nagisa points at him. “Break it down, Sou-chan!” he cheers.

Sousuke surveys the situation. His gaze drifts briefly to Rin. And then he bursts into a rap.

Sousuke is rapping to a Jennifer Love Hewitt cover. Everything Rin knows is a lie.

-

Thirty minutes later, Haru finds Rin in a shaking, traumatised heap on the kitchen floor.

“Hey,” Haru says softly, kneeling down. “What happened to you?”

“I can’t un-hear it...” Rin whispers. “I can’t un-hear it.”

Haru rubs Rin’s shoulders. He doesn't try to ask what Rin's talking about, which is sweet. “Sshh. Just listen to my voice, then.”

Rin does so. After a minute of Haru murmuring sweet nothings, Rin sits up. “Why are you here? You’re not working tonight.”

Haru shrugs. “Rei called me and said that you were a bit upset. He said that Nagisa and Makoto were involved... but none of them will tell me what happened.” Haru almost looks annoyed.

Rin nods. “Nagisa tried to sing in English. Makoto played accompaniment. Rei played the bongo drums.” He sniffles. “I don’t want anybody to get hit with a broom.” He sniffles harder. “Everything would be better if I was a turtle.”

Haru frowns in concern. He brushes Rin’s hair back and feels his forehead. “You’re not making much sense... I hope you’re not getting a fever.”

Haru’s hands are soft. Rin closes his eyes. He murmurs in English, “my love is as a fever longing still, for that which longer nurseth the disease.”

Haru stares uncomprehendingly. “What’s that?”

Rin faux-huffs. “It’s from a sonnet by Shakespeare. It’s very important and romantic.”

The beginnings of a smile play at Haru’s lips. “ _You’re_ quoting something romantic? Yeah, you’re definitely sick.”

Rin _is_ sick of _this_. He rolls his eyes with as much scorn as he can muster. He leans forward and plants a fumbling kiss on the corner of Haru’s mouth. “Now you’re sick too.”

And then Rin just gets up and runs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> Basically, I was on the train last week jamming to my girl Jennifer Love Hewitt when the idea for that whole wreck of a scene happened. The moral of this story is that if you ever see a girl laughing silently whilst alone in public, please don't judge her too harshly, because she's probably me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter – things have been incredibly busy with work and internships etc. On the upside of that, work is giving me plenty of fun inspiration for this story. :) There are some awesome comments that I haven’t yet replied to, and I will, but I wanted to post this first.
> 
> Things take a slightly more sombre turn in this chapter. I want to give a trigger warning here for mentions of grief in the latter half of the chapter. If you think that topic might be triggering for you but you still want to know what happens, please feel free to message me for a brief summary. ♥

As it turns out, Rin actually does get sick. He gets so sick that he’s out of action for an entire week – no work, no classes, and definitely no training.

But it’s not so bad. Sousuke texts him funny gifs. Nagisa actually sends him flowers. He sends daffodils and gardenias, which is a bit of a weird combination. But hey, it’s Nagisa. Once Rin was certain that the bouquet didn’t contain any hidden bombs, he actually felt kind of charmed. Gou gets tipsy one night and sends him a phone selfie in which a pink-haired guy is licking her face. The caption reads, _having fun for you ‘cause you can’t. xx._ The guy has a stripe of purple make-up on his face that compliments his violet eyes, and he’s wearing an unbuttoned white shirt. Rin knows without a doubt that this guy is Makoto’s friend, Kisumi. He’s never met Kisumi. He’s never _seen_ Kisumi. He’s only heard Kisumi mentioned in conversation once or twice. But he knows instantly that this is the fabled Kisumi.

Rin blows his nose and replies to Gou. _Use protection when you tap that. xx_

Really, the only two downsides to being sick (apart from feeling like crap, of course) are not being able to see Haru, and being bored out of his mind.

Rin gets so bored that by the third day into his flu that he starts sending pictures of dogs that look like famous people to Sousuke. Sousuke ignores it at first. Rin starts sending them at twice the frequency. Sousuke retaliates by threatening to tell Haru about Rin’s heavy metal phase. Then Rin threatens to uninstall Sousuke’s GPS from his phone. Their threats gradually get more and more vile, until Sousuke actually calls him and snaps, “I’m going to work and you’re going to _bed_. Now.”

Rin whines, but acquiesces. There’s no point arguing with Sousuke when he’s in a mood.

But by eleven p.m., Rin is bored again. Rin chews his lip hesitantly. He takes out his phone. He opens up the internet browser. Feeling slightly shifty, Rin types in, _‘dogs that look like famous people.’_

When the results come up, Rin calls Sousuke immediately.

Sousuke answers in a gruff voice. “It’s eleven p.m., we’re out of ice cream, and I’m trying to deal with a lady who doesn’t want banana bread in her banana bread fondue. This better be important, Rin.”

“I just saw a dog that looks like David Duchovny –”

Sousuke hangs up.

Somehow, Rin even ends up spending time with Rei. The kid shows up at his doorstep one evening with a bag of subtitled _F.R.I.E.N.D.S._ DVDs and some honey-lemon tea. Rei bows and offers Rin a formal apology for “any past transgressions.” The whole thing has a very _Makoto-made-me-do-this_ aura about it, but Rei seems genuinely sorry, so Rin lets him stay for a few hours. Rin learns that Rei dislikes Ross and loves Phoebe. Rei learns that Rin relates on a spiritual level to Chandler. By the end of the night, Rin’s pretty sure that they’ve bonded.

So even though Rin’s sick, it turns out to be a pretty good week. He doesn’t hear from Haru, but that doesn’t even _matter_ , because Rin feels so confident on the Haru front that he’s almost bouncing up and down. He kissed Haru. He _likes_ Haru. He feels like he can finally accept that now. And now that he has the time and peace of mind to look back on the past couple of weeks, Rin realises that maybe Haru likes him too.

So at last, Rin decides that he’s going to do something about it.

When Rin has a mission, he _has a_ _mission_. No one is better at missions than Rin. Rin went on a mission to Australia, Rin went on a mission to university, and now Rin’s embarking on a mission to reach the depths of Haru’s heart. His body thrums with anticipation, like his adrenaline is already kicking into gear.

So when Rin finally feels better, he dons his most fashionable little outfit – tight jeans, a white tee, a tartan overshirt and boots. He pulls a woollen beanie over his sleep-mussed hair and the look is complete. Then he strolls down the street to work so that he can share the news of his miraculous recovery (and woo Haru).

When he gets there, the coffee shop is quiet. Sousuke looks up from where he’s folding takeaway boxes. “Oh, hey. Are you feeling better?”

Rin smiles and leans against the counter. “Much better. How’s your hand?”

Sousuke shrugs. “So-so.” He raises an eyebrow at Rin’s attire. Ever-so-casually, he smirks and says, “So you’ve decided to seduce Haru, then?”

Rin scoffs. “No! Maybe. Shut up. Why?”

Sousuke shrugs again. “No reason. Just... good luck with that.”

“Hmm?” Rin doesn’t really pay much attention to the cryptic comment, because just at that moment, Haru walks out of the kitchen.

Rin can tell instantly that something’s off. He’s not sure how he can tell, exactly. When Haru glances up, his eyes soften and he half-waves at Rin. “Hi. You look better.”

Rin can’t help skipping over. He’s like a puppy dog, honestly. He stops just short of bumping into Haru. “I am better! Want to race?”

Sousuke snorts. Rin flips him the finger. Haru frowns. “I have to work.”

“We can go to the pool down the road!” Rin wheedles. “I can get us free entry there. I know people.”

Haru shrugs. “I have to work.” He turns away from Rin and starts cleaning the coffee machine.

Rin blinks. Haru? Rejecting an offer of swimming? He looks at Sousuke, wondering if Sousuke has seen what he’s just seen. Sousuke meets his gaze and shrugs.

Rin’s heart sinks a little bit. He sits by the counter and chats with Sousuke, but his gaze keeps drifting to Haru. Is Haru mad at Rin for kissing him? Does he not want Rin’s attention in that way? Or is there something else going on? Rin mulls over it for what feels like hours.

Eventually, Nagisa joins them.

The blond strides into the coffee shop and sits on a stool beside Rin, flopping his head dramatically on the table. “I just had an exam,” he announces.

Sousuke pats his back and makes him a coffee. “There, there.”

Rin watches with horror as Nagisa swallows the entire cup of coffee in one gulp. “Ah,” Nagisa sighs. “That’s better.” He beams at Rin. “Hi, Rin-chan! I’m glad you didn’t die.”

Rin stares. “Um... thank you?” Wait. There _hadn’t_ actually been any hidden bombs in that bouquet of flowers, had there? Rin was sure he searched it very thoroughly.

Sousuke rolls his eyes. “That’s Nagisa’s way of saying that he’s glad you’re okay.”

Rin okay-ness is short-lived, because Nagisa proceeds to lick him on the cheek.

“Urgh!” Rin splutters, jumping away from him. Nagisa cackles. Even Sousuke laughs.

Rin huffs, settling back onto his stool. He wipes his face with a napkin. “Don’t ever do that again,” he says gruffly.

Nagisa makes some remark about how _‘only Haru-chan’s allowed near Rin’s pretty face,’_ and then proceeds to tell Rin and Sousuke all about Rei’s great aunt. Neither one of them really cares, but Nagisa has a comfortable way of filling silence, so they let him talk. Haru is mostly busy serving customers, and only joins in the conversation once or twice.

By the time dusk falls, Rin knows more about Rei’s great aunt than he ever wants to know about _anyone_. He knows what perfume she wears on Sundays. He knows about the medicine she takes to calm her acid reflux and uncontrollable burping. He knows about the time she gave Rei a terrible haircut, and how Rei cried about it for a week. Nagisa even has a photo of a snivelly child-Rei in his wallet, and yes, it was truly a terrible haircut.

The conversation comes to a lull, and Rin finds himself watching Haru. The boy is currently wiping down the shop windows, his silhouette framed by the fading light outside.

“Haru isn’t smiling on the inside today,” Nagisa remarks quietly.

Rin looks at him in surprise.

“We’ve all been a bit worried,” Nagisa continues. “Makoto wanted to pick him up from work today, but he’s got work too, so I’m walking him home instead.” He smiles at Rin. “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with you, so don’t worry about that. Haru likes you quite a lot.”

Rin can’t think of anything to say in response to that. When Haru’s shift draws to a close, Nagisa winks at Rin and goes to help Haru with his bag. Rin isn’t close enough to pick up on what they’re saying, but he can see Nagisa murmuring quietly as he squeezes Haru’s shoulder and brushes his hair out of his eyes. It’s the first time Rin has seen Nagisa being _soft_ with anyone, but he gets the sense that this is natural for them. Rin’s heart suddenly aches as he thinks, _I want to be a part of that_. He’s never really wanted to be a part of anything before. He’s wanted success, yes. He’s wanted glory, yes. But the gentle habits of a long-term friendship? No. Rin searches his memories, and he can’t think of a single moment where he’s ever wanted something as simple as that.

-

Rin’s mission changes slightly. Operation: Woo Haru becomes Operation: Cheer-Up Haru, which is more altruistic and probably more suited to Rin’s capabilities anyway.

It’s not a particularly easy mission, especially when nobody has the slightest clue what’s _wrong_. Whenever he’s questioned about it, Haru says that he’s fine. Then he stays at least two metres away from whoever questioned him for the next several hours. To add to the challenge, Haru’s birthday is quickly approaching, and Rin would really like to achieve the mission before that rather important deadline. No one should have a crappy birthday.

So far, the person who seems to be making the most development is Makoto. _Of course._ Rin is desperately trying to keep his competitive side in check, but it’s not easy. Makoto is currently sitting by the side of the university pool where Rin and Haru are training. For some bizarre reason he’s got a plate of fish fingers, and he’s wearing a look of total concentration as he arranges the fish fingers into smiley faces. Whenever he makes a smiley face that he’s really pleased with, he cheers and calls Haru over to look. It’s fucking cute, and Makoto knows it. Haru knows it too. He rolls his eyes and almost-giggles whenever Makoto shows him a face. Makoto rewards him by feeding him fish fingers. Rin’s competitive streak is trying to boil him alive. But it’s worth it, because Makoto manages to make Haru smile, at least temporarily.

But the week continues on. Haru’s birthday gets ever-closer, and it seems like the closer it gets, the deeper into his sadness Haru falls. In the end, the person who really makes a breakthrough is Rei.

On Thursday afternoon Rin and Haru finish their shifts at the same time, so Rei and Nagisa invite them out for ice cream. Rin doesn’t actually like ice cream, on account of his shark teeth being very sensitive. But he agrees because Haru does. It’s a sunny day, and Rin allows himself to enjoy the warmth as they stroll towards the nearby ice cream shop. (Nagisa, who has yet to be cleansed of his inner demon, whispers in Rin’s ear that this is a _double-date_ and nearly ruins it for him. But apart from that incident, Rin enjoys the walk.)

Rei and Haru walk ahead, talking quietly. Rin does want to eavesdrop, and he especially doesn’t want to eavesdrop _in front of Nagisa_ , but he ends up doing so anyway.

“You don’t have to tell us about it right now,” Rei is saying. “You swim in your own way and in your own time. And it’s easy because it’s _you_. So my theory is that if you extend that approach to other areas of your life, they’ll get easier too. But at the same time, please don’t shut us out. We want to be here for you. When I was learning to swim, you said to me, _‘don’t resist the water.’_ Now I’m saying to you, please don’t resist your friends.”

Rin’s jaw slackens. He looks at Nagisa. Nagisa winks.

Haru visibly relaxes after that. He lets Rin buy him an ice cream. When he gets it on his nose, he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at Rin and laughs when Rin licks it off. Nagisa records it all on his phone. Rei declares that they’re all juveniles. All in all, they have a good time.

Their homes are all in the same direction, so they pair up again for the walk back. This time, Rei and Nagisa walk ahead. Rin is beginning to realise that with Nagisa’s insightfulness and Rei’s way with words, they really are a good couple. It’s fascinating to watch them. Nagisa seems to show a broader range of emotions with Rei. At times he’s the bouncy Nagisa that Rin knows, and at other times he’s quiet and relaxed. Rei is unafraid to be dramatic around Nagisa, cackling loudly and announcing all the beautiful things that they walk past. At one stage, he literally points to the horizon. “The sunset is beautiful!” he yells. He points to a skyscraper. “That building is beautiful. Give me the architect’s number, because I need to congratulate them immediately! That building is beautiful!” Nagisa laughs wildly. Rei points at Nagisa. He pushes his glasses up his nose and gasps. “By golly, that man is beautiful!” Then he grabs Nagisa and kisses him right there in the street.

Rin turns to Haru. “Are they always like that?”

Haru is trying not to smirk. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Rin wonders if he and Haru could ever match like that. He sees the way Nagisa curls into Rei’s side and pictures Haru fitting against him like that. When he glances at Haru, he notices that Haru’s lost in a reverie of his own.

Rin stops walking. “Hey, Haru?”

Haru stops and turns to him. “Yeah?”

Rin suddenly feels unsure. Haru’s eyes are an open, trusting blue. “Why have you been down lately? I mean, you don’t have to tell me. But... please do.”

Haru starts walking again. Rin falls into step beside him. Haru avoids Rin’s gaze, instead opting to stare at the ground. “It’s my birthday on Saturday,” he says eventually. “I’m turning twenty. My grandmother used to say that once you turn twenty, you’re ordinary.”

Rin frowns. “Do you not want to be ordinary?” Rin can relate to that sentiment. “You’re not ordinary to me.”

Haru gives a small smile. Then he shakes his head. “It’s not that.” Rin waits. Haru crosses his arms and glances away. “I just always kind of thought that my grandmother would be alive to see me turn twenty.”

_Oh._

Haru’s grieving. That’s what this is.

“I’m sorry,” is all Rin can honestly say.

It’s not a useful offering, but Haru accepts it anyway. “Thanks,” he says quietly. He still doesn’t meet Rin’s gaze.

Rin is completely at a loss. The worst part is that he knows grief. He knows from the horrible experience of losing his father that grief is a messy, personal thing. Probably infinitely more personal for someone as private as Haru. It’s something that people work through in their own time. So there’s honestly not much that he _can_ say.

But Rin has a mission, and he won’t accept defeat. So he touches Haru’s shoulder, and when Haru looks at him in surprise, he takes Haru’s hand in his.

Then he bites it.

Haru yelps and whips his hand away. He scowls at Rin. “What was that for?!”

Rin looks at him like it’s obvious. “I gave you a bite mark.”

“Well yeah, but why the _fuck_ –”

“So you can look at it and know that I’m always here for you.”

For a few seconds Haru just stares at Rin, breathing heavily from shock and anger. Then, without warning, he bursts into laughter.

Haru doubles over, gasping for air between laughs. “Rin, you are _without a doubt_ – the biggest _dork_ – how the fuck – such a dork? Thanks so much – for all the love – that’s beautiful, really –”

Rin was trying to go for deep and meaningful rather than outrageously hilarious, but hey, he’ll take what he can get. He ruffles Haru’s hair. “Don’t wear yourself out, babe. You need that fragile body for swimming.”

Haru shoves him. “My body is _not_ fragile!”

Rin guffaws. “I have tasted your body in my very own mouth, and I can vouch for the fact that you are fragile goods. _Very_ soft hands. Kind of crunchy, too.” He takes out his phone and brings up Makoto’s contact. “I’d better tell Makoto about your crunchy condition. It’s concerning.”

Haru tries to wrestle him for the phone. “Don’t you _dare_ tell Makoto that I’m _crunchy_ , you freak.”

Rin holds the phone just out of Haru’s reach. He presses _call_. Makoto’s concerned voice comes through. “Rin? What’s up?” Haru jumps for the phone.

Rin shoves him away and holds the phone to his ear. He speaks in his most professional sounding voice. “I’m sorry to interrupt your day, Tachibana-san, but Haru seems to have a problem. He’s feeling a bit _crunchy_ –”

Haru tickles Rin. Rin lets his guard down, and Haru snatches the phone. “He’s a dirty liar!” he practically shouts into the phone. Then he hangs up.

It’s Rin’s turn to double over in laughter. He’s snorting and crying with it. Haru stares at him, red-faced and wearing and expression of utter shock. Rin can almost hear him thinking, _‘what have I gotten myself into?’_

Haru sighs. “You’re going to be such a handful, aren’t you?”

Rin doesn’t really know what Haru’s talking about, but he whoops in affirmation. “Oh, yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rin smh
> 
> Feel free to hmu on tumblr at tipsy-louis.tumblr.com. :D
> 
> Edit: Hey guys, please be patient with me if this starts showing up in the makoharu tag. I've taken it out of the tag many times, and for some reason it keeps winding up back in there. As you can see, it's not tagged with "Haruka N.../Makoto T..." but it seems like every time I update, it gets sorted back into that tag. AO3 is still a beta site, so sometimes these things happen. It's not something that you need to tell me about at the moment, because I already know and I'm already working on it. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Basically, I was dealing with an ongoing hand injury that flared up again. Anyway, I hope that this chapter will make up for the wait, because it's long and dripping with drama.
> 
> [Also! If you're here to tell me that this fic is (sporadically) appearing in the mh tag, please be informed that: a) I know, b) I've tried to fix it, c) I've submitted a support request to AO3 about it, d) AO3 is still a beta site so sometimes these things happen, e) it's not that big a deal. Thanks!]

The week goes by and Haru’s birthday approaches. Rin’s doom begins like this:

He’s preparing the coffee machine one morning, just three days before the Big Day. Nagisa strolls in, plops himself on the counter, looks Rin dead in the eye and announces, “It’s decided!”

Rin squints at him suspiciously. “What’s decided?”

“You’re my second in command,” Nagisa informs him very seriously, as if he’s bestowing a great honour (and not in any way bestowing Rin’s doom).

Okay. Something is definitely up, and it sounds like Rin’s not going to enjoy it. “Second in command for what?” Rin asks cautiously, against his better judgement.

“For planning Haru’s birthday party, of course,” Nagisa says flippantly. He grabs a polished fork from the cutlery rack and licks it. “Hmm. We’ll need to work on your polishing skills, though.”

Rin cannot picture Haru at a party. He can’t do it. “Does Haru even _like_ parties? Also, you suck. I just washed that.”

“Haru loves parties! One time we played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and he refused to put his blindfold on, and then he nominated Mako-chan as his stand-in donkey-pinner. I didn’t even know that you could do that! But Haru said it’s in the fine print of the rules. He must love pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey a _lot_ to know the fine print of the rules,” Nagisa muses, a little bit in awe.

It occurs to Rin right then that he’s never met a single friend of Haru’s that Haru doesn’t have wrapped around his little finger. These people would probably lick breadcrumbs out of Haru’s chlorine-smelling hands if he asked them to.

Rin sighs. “Okay, I’ll help you plan Haru’s birthday party,” he relents, because it sounds like the poor kid is going to need all the help he can get.

Nagisa beams. “Thanks, Rin-chan!”

-

Rin should really consider saying _no_ more often. His general niceness has caused his doom.

Fast forward three days, and Rin’s doom is already upon him – in the form of the post-apocalyptic mess that is Nagisa’s kitchen. Nagisa stands beside him and nods.

Rin looks at Nagisa. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” he deadpans.

Nagisa blinks. “No idea about what?”

Rin’s lip curls upwards into a sarcastic snarl. “No idea that you were a victim of a _hurricane_ , Nagisa. Good grief!” he barks, literally pulling on his hair. “The party is in forty minutes and you haven’t _cleaned up yet?!_ ”

Nagisa pokes his bottom lip with his finger. It’s inappropriately cute. “Well, I don’t really know how.”

Rin kind of wants to spit on everything Nagisa loves. “Oh. I see. You don’t _know how_. Well, I _don’t know how_ we’re going to get this poor excuse for a trash heap cleaned up in time for the guests to arrive, which, oh right, is happening in _forty minutes!_ ”

Nagisa pouts. “Hey, don’t yell at me. I just overlooked this one thing. I’ve done a lot.”

Rin pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sorry.” Nagisa’s telling the truth – he _has_ done a lot. There’s a cake and presents on the table, fairy lights adorning the apartment, music selected, alcohol bought, board-games purchased, and even a guest DJ scheduled to perform at some point. There’s mackerel for Haru. There’s a salad too – mostly so that Makoto won’t, as Nagisa put it, “mother out” on everybody. There are even signs on the wall pointing to the bathroom. Nagisa’s put a lot of effort into this.

Nagisa sighs, seeming to deflate. “No, I’m sorry. This is turning out to be more of a challenge that I thought it would be.” He sits down and stares at his feet.

Rin’s heart does a weird little jump at the word ‘challenge’. His brain kicks into fourth gear and he scans the trash heap as if it’s a pool, analysing how much distant he can cover and calculating how he should pace himself. He rolls his sleeves up and cracks his knuckles, energy suddenly coursing through his limbs.

Nagisa frowns and looks up at him. “Rin-chan?”

Words start spilling out of Rin’s mouth. _Planning_ words. “Right! I’m guessing there’s about ten kilograms of garbage covering about eight square metres, as well as a good six or seven kilograms of dishes to clean.” He throws open the kitchen cupboard. “We’ve got two rolls of garbage bags and one pair of dishwashing gloves. Full elbow-length. Do you have any punk-rock music on your mp3 player?”

Nagisa jumps up ad stands at attention, even though his expression belies utter bewilderment. “Um... Sir yes sir?”

Rin nods. “Good. We can work faster to punk-rock. I have bigger biceps, so I’m on dishes. You’re small and flexible – ideal for hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. I’m tagging you in as garbage collector. Are you up to it?” He’s speaking quickly, the excitement making him feel a bit wild.

Nagisa responds to the sudden change in mood, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Sir yes sir!”

Rin holds up his hand. “We’ve got thirty-six minutes. Give me a high five!”

Nagisa cheers and slaps Rin’s hand, then scrambles off to get his mp3 player. Within moments, music is pumping from the stereo and Rin is elbow deep in water and dirty dishes. Nagisa darts around, grabbing rubbish and shoving it into his garbage bag like a pixie hoarding gold. Rin starts kicking and fist pumping as he washes the dishes. Nagisa sings poorly along to the music and Rin doesn’t even care. Nagisa grabs a flannel cloth and starts scrubbing all the surfaces, and he is no longer ordinary Nagisa – he is Spiderman Nagisa. Nagisa is Spiderman Nagisa and Rin is Spiderman Rin, swooping through the night to make student apartments acceptable for Haru’s presence.

Time goes by and suddenly the whole place is _clean_ and they’re just dancing. Rin’s not sure he can actually stop dancing. Nagisa dances like girls in teenage movies, cutesy and fun-loving and absolutely shameless. Rin dances like a hooligan trashing a car, except the _air_ is the car. _Life_ is the car.

The front door swings open at some point. Rei walks in and says “babe, I’m back. Haru is here.” Then Rei takes in the situation and his eyes widen.  Rin sees Haru standing right behind Rei, and his eyes widen. Nagisa, who had at that exact moment been dancing with his toy penguin, freezes like a dork caught in headlights.

Then Haru rolls his eyes. “You started partying without us? How rude.”

Nagisa laughs and goes to give Haru a hug, cheering “Happy birthday!” Haru, to his credit, endures the hug with a tolerant smile. The music is still pumping. Nagisa takes Rei’s hands and pulls him in. “Dance with me, Rei-chan!” Rei acquiesces, and even though Nagisa is currently a clumsy flurry of arms and legs and very dishevelled curls, Rei looks at him like he’s never seen anyone more beautiful. Haru hovers awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, smiling with the quiet hesitation of someone who admires but doesn’t want to intrude.

Haru meets Rin’s eyes. Rin’s chest feels like it might be puffing out like some kind of overexcited bird. He’s a part of this moment. He’s a part of these people. He dances over to Haru while Haru just stands there and watches him. Rin puts his hands on Haru’s shoulders, leans in and whispers, “happy birthday.”

Haru shivers. “Thanks.”

Rin takes Haru’s hand and pulls him into the apartment, and they fall into a natural sort of dance. Haru is as graceful at dancing as he is at everything else. He lets Rin lead him, flowing into the motions as he flows through water. But if he thinks Rin’s going to be gentle with him, he’s wrong. Rin cackles and grabs Haru around the waist. He picks him up while Haru shrieks in outrage. Rin sets Haru back down, and Haru mock-scowls and dances away from him.

Rei, for some strange reason, is river-dancing. Nagisa’s trying to copy his movements, and Haru nearly falls backwards over their kicking legs. Rin clambers onto the lounge and starts waving his hands in the air, like he’s the conductor of their weird little orchestra. He feels like wild nine-year-old Rin who started swim teams with strangers and got detention for circulating a petition at school to lengthen lunch time, Charismatic Rin who was told by every single teacher that he was Too Influential on the other students, Rebellious Rin who scribbled his name on walls and only cared about _having fun_ before he grew up and Perfectionist Rin took over. Then he jumps off the lounge and wanders over to Haru. Haru stands on tiptoes and kisses him, and then he’s just Happy Rin.

The doorbell rings. Nagisa turns the volume down a little bit and goes over to answer it.

Makoto stands in the hallway with Sousuke, Gou ( _???_ ) and the pink-haired boy that Rin has figured must be Kisumi. Makoto’s gaze flickers from Nagisa to the streamers to the pumping stereo, to Rin’s hand on Haru’s waist. It lingers just a little bit too long on that last spot, Rin thinks. Finally Makoto looks back to Nagisa. “Sorry, are we late?”

Nagisa laughs and ushers them in. “Nope! You’re right on time. Rin-chan just got a little bit carried away, the cute kid.”

Rin snarls. “I’m older than you. And hey – you were dancing too!”

Gou snorts. “Sure, Jan.”

Rin doesn’t recall _ever_ showing Gou the Brady Bunch. “Don’t call me Jan.”

-

Dinner doesn’t go well.

The problem, as it happens, is mostly Makoto’s fault. See, Makoto decided to invite Kisumi. Kisumi seems like a nice a guy, but he also seems to be Haru’s oblivious enemy.

It’s kind of funny to watch, actually. Haru’s a pretty straightforward guy – what you see is what you get with Haru. But Kisumi is a puzzle within a conundrum. He seems to have both an irrepressible mischievous streak and a neurotic need to be liked. And of course, neither of those things sits well with Haru.

Rin, Rei and Nagisa are making a game of counting Kisumi’s faux pas vs. Haru’s blatant acts of rejection. They’re currently pretty evenly matched.

Haru carefully cuts a piece of potato while Kisumi munches on some corn chips. “Do you miss Makoto’s shoulders, though?” Kisumi is asking. “I mean, come on. They’re pretty great shoulders. Last week I balanced two basketballs on his shoulders.”

“That’s thirty-nine for Kisumi,” Nagisa whispers. Rei draws another stroke on the tally they’re keeping on his napkin.

Haru takes a bite from his potato and chews on it for a while before answering. “His shoulders are fine, I suppose,” he says coldly. “Swimmers depend on their shoulder muscles more than basketball players do.”

Nagisa clamps a hand over his mouth, and Rin can just tell that he’s trying not to say, _“Oooh.”_ Rei draws a stroke under the tally for Haru. Gou’s eyes are darting back and forth between Haru and Kisumi like she’s about to start playing referee. Poor Makoto is looking a little bit pale and sweaty – he reaches out and takes a long sip from his wine glass. Sousuke has long ago lost interest in the conversion. If Rin’s not mistaken, he’s playing Candy Crush Saga on his phone.

“But basketball players are better with their hands,” Kisumi counters. He winks. “Hey Haru, you should come watch our band play in the bar sometime!”

Haru shrugs. “No thanks. I have training most nights. And no offence, but your singer sucks.”

Kisumi shrinks back a bit. “I’m our singer.”

Rei draws a giant, bold stroke in Haru’s column.

Haru shrugs again. “Oops.”

Haru keeps sending angry glances Makoto’s way, as if to say, _“I can’t believe you invited this guy.”_ Makoto won’t meet Haru’s gaze. He’s almost permanently attached to his wine glass. His hands are shaking. That’s odd – Rin didn’t think Makoto was a drinker.

Finally, Nagisa can’t control himself. “Are you just gonna _take that?_ ” he bursts out, voice rising in excitement.

Kisumi laughs it off. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Haru-chan’s harmless. He’s like a cute little music-hating puppy.” He wriggles his eyebrows at Haru. “We’re actually buddies, right, Haru-chan?”

Haru sips casually at his water. “Buddies in the sense that you annoy me a lot, yeah.”

Kisumi claps a hand to his heart. “Careful! I’m naturally sensitive.”

“Oh?” Haru says, perking up as if he’s humouring him. “And is your hair colour natural too?”

“As free and natural as your mum’s, if y’know what I mean,” Kisumi retorts crudely, giving a dirty wink.

Even Haru laughs at that. Sousuke looks up from his phone to say, “Ooh, burn.”

They’re just throwing stupid jibes at this point, but it seems to bother Makoto. After another round of snarky banter, Makoto stands up. “Excuse me, please,” he says quietly. He leaves the room.

Haru sighs, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Trouble in paradise?” Kisumi questions.

“Shut up,” Haru hisses, as venomously as a snake. He stands up and walks out to find Makoto. “I’ll be back.”

Haru and Makoto don’t come back for a while. When they do, there’s less tension between them, but Makoto still looks unhappy. His hands are still shaking.

Nagisa and Gou start a game of truth or dare, which mostly results in the two of them doing their own dares. Nagisa walks like a penguin and Gou takes a shot from Kisumi’s collarbones. They find out, much to Nagisa’s shock, that Rei had his first kiss at the age of twelve and touched boobs not long after. Sousuke is dared to do three hundred push-ups. He completes the challenge effortlessly, but by the end of it Gou is drooling and Kisumi is fast asleep. Rei posts a picture of the event to his Instagram and gains eighteen followers. Haru blows at the candles on his cake. Nagisa asks Haru if he made a wish.

Haru just looks at Rin and smiles. “I don’t need to.”

Gou makes a gagging noise, which wakes Kisumi up. “What?! Where?” he gasps, looking around in confusion. “Who’s in jail?”

“Haru, soon. For obscenity,” Gou declares.

Kisumi drifts off again, mumbling, “Always... knew it would happen eventually...”

Haru flips Kisumi the finger, but Kisumi is too asleep to notice. His head flops onto Gou’s shoulder. Gou smiles sweetly and draws a moustache on his face. They almost make a cute pair, Rin thinks.

One by one, their friends doze off until only Rin, Haru, Makoto and Nagisa are left awake. Makoto is a sweet and giggly drunk, holding onto the furniture and addressing everyone simply as _“chan.”_  He stumbles about like a person who has given up on having a sense of direction. He tries to take a napkin to the bin and instead bumps into Haru. “I’m a pirate. Arr.”

Haru huffs in exasperation and steers Makoto to the lounge. “Sit down. Drink some water.”

“You’re just saying that because you like water!” Makoto protests. “I see your intentions here, sir.”

Rin snorts. “Makoto sure is a lightweight.”

Nagisa’s lips are pursed. “Mako-chan normally doesn’t drink at all,” he says.

Makoto mumbles against the water glass that Haru presses to his lips. “Hydra... yda... pedro... hydro-propaganda!” he announces gleefully. “That’s what this is.”

Haru pushes the glass against him insistently. “You need to drink water.”

“No water. I don’t want to go swimming,” Makoto argues. “Bad things happen when we swim.”

Nagisa winces. “What’s he talking about?” Rin asks.

Nagisa shakes his head. “It’s a long story.”

Haru sighs and stands up, pulling Makoto along with him. “Walking helps when he’s like this,” he says. “Come on, Makoto. Let’s go for a walk.”

“Walk,” Makoto agrees happily. In a sing-song voice he murmurs, “Safe, dry, land. Haru-chan, you’re pretty slow at running, you know?”

Haru laughs. “I know. Now come on.”

“Are you going to hide me in a forest?” Makoto asks innocently.

Rin cackles. Haru frowns. “What? No.”

“But you’re mad at me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Sure you are. That’s why you’re being so mean to my friends.” Haru tugs Makoto along. Makoto follows blithely. “If you think you can hide me in a forest, just remember that I can run faster than you.”

-

Nagisa curls up beside a sleeping Rei and turns on the TV. Rin snuggles comfortably into the lounge. They watch sitcoms with the volume down low for a while. The atmosphere is calm in the aftermath of the party. Eventually Rin stands up to get a snack. He pads quietly towards the kitchen, with the cautious sort of care that comes with being in someone else’s home.

Haru and Makoto are murmuring in the kitchen. Rin pauses in the doorway and takes in the scene.

Haru’s hair is messy and his shoulders tense. Makoto is visibly less drunk. Apparently the walk did do him a world of good – but it also appears that that wasn’t enough.

“You don’t have to be so nasty to him,” Makoto is whispering fiercely. His voice is tight, just on the verge of tears.

Haru growls. “You know I’ve never liked him! Why would you even bring him here?”

“You wanted me to prove that I have a life! And other friends! Well, I’m proving that.”

“So bringing him here was some kind of display?” Haru challenges.

Makoto runs a hand through his hair. “No! Look, Kisumi genuinely likes you. And he’s been lonely lately. He needed company tonight. I was just trying to help out a friend. I thought you could tolerate him, at least.” He pauses, debating whether to continue. The alcohol seems to knock out the last of his inhibitions. “Anyway, it’s a little bit hypocritical that you’re accusing me of using someone for display.”

Haru speaks roughly. “What is that supposed to mean?!”

“I mean, it’s not fair what you’re doing to Rin. You’re messing around with someone who cares for you more than you care for him.” Makoto crosses his arms. “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

“How – how fucking _dare_ you,” Haru hisses. “That’s not what I’m doing with Rin!”

“Are you officially dating, then?”

Haru deflates a little. “Well – well, no.”

“Why not?”

Haru pauses, searching for an answer. “I just... haven’t worked everything out yet,” he says eventually. “I don’t want to mess things up with Rin. I want to get things right.”

“Does he know that?”

“Probably. I don’t know. It’s none of your business.”

Makoto’s arms are still crossed in front of his body, as if shielding himself from any potential wounds that Haru could inflict. “I was lying earlier.”

Haru frowns in confusion. “When?”

Makoto shrugs with the defeated honesty of someone who is a lot more far gone than they ever intended to be. “When I said that I have a life without you. I don’t, really.”

Haru’s eyes soften. “Makoto –”

Makoto leans down and kisses him. It’s clumsy and Haru only accepts it for a moment before he pulls away. But it’s still a kiss. “We can’t,” Haru murmurs.

Makoto’s voice sounds choked. “I’ve been a mess ever since we broke up,” he confesses. “I go to uni but there’s no point and there’s music but there’s no point and the kids smile at me and think I’m great but I’m not, I’m a pointless person, it’s all pointless without you.”

Haru looks at him sadly. “Don’t you see how unhealthy that is?”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Makoto protests quickly, but Haru steps away from him.

Haru speaks with a cold listlessness that’s so completely _Haru_ that it frightens Rin a little bit. “That’s enough. I’ll break your heart a hundred times if I have to, if it means that you’ll learn to stop needing me.” Makoto seems to shrink under the harshness of that declaration, until he almost looks like the smaller one. Haru continues more softly, “I’d rather not, though.”

Rin’s heard enough. He knows where this is going, because _of course_ that’s where it’s going, because he’s been an idiot about Haru and Makoto right from the start. He should have seen this coming, really. He turns on his heel to leave, but his traitorous squeaking shoe alerts Haru and Makoto to his presence. Haru’s eyes widen as Makoto’s mouth falls open in shock.

Rin doesn’t know what to do, so he runs.

It’s the final stupid ending to the stupid night. He’s clumsy and slightly tipsy and he technically has to stop running when he reaches the elevator. He’s vaguely aware that Haru’s chasing him. The elevator doors close just before Haru can get to him, and Rin hears him swear in frustration.

When Rin finally gets out of the elevator, he runs out onto the unfamiliar street. Haru took the stairs, and he’s a fair way behind Rin now but he’s not giving up the chase. Rin is suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to laugh. He knows he must look absurd. The streetlights fall across his face and for some strange reason, Rin finds himself thinking of Rei. He finds himself thinking of Rei and cameras and beauty, and he wonders whether any of them look beautiful right now.

Haru really is a slow runner. He catches Rin in a courtyard outside a closed restaurant. There’s light still spilling from the restaurant, where the restaurant workers are cleaning up for the night. Haru leans over, panting. “Rin!” he yells-slash-gasps. “Stop!”

Rin stops. He turns to face Haru. “What do you want?” he says petulantly.

Haru sighs and walks over to Rin. There’s this disturbingly tired look in his eyes that Rin isn’t sure stems from physical exhaustion. Haru puts his hands against Rin’s shoulders and gently holds him there, like he’s afraid Rin might dart away. “Just stop.”

“Why?” Rin says bitingly. “Is someone watching? I want to put on a good _display_.”

Haru looks at him seriously. His eyes are almost luminescent in the low light. “Makoto didn’t mean those things.”

“Alcohol releases people’s inhibitions. It doesn’t make them less honest.”

“Well, even if he _did_ mean some of it, he was wrong. I don’t care what anyone thinks. I like you a lot.”

Rin swallows. He feels incredibly awkward now. “Oh. Okay.” Haru stares at him. “Hey – I like you a lot too!”

Haru chuckles. It’s mostly humourless, though. He sighs, long and resignedly. “Well, that was a bit of a disaster.” Rin hums. Haru continues. “I honestly didn’t know he still felt like that. He’s gotten better at hiding things from me.”

“Except when he’s drunk.”

Haru snorts. “Yeah.” He pauses. “Listen, you need to understand... I still love Makoto. But not like _that_ anymore. We’re different people than we were in high school.” He starts tracing Rin’s collarbones. “I’ve decided that I like being twenty,” he says out of the blue.

“Yeah?”

Haru nods. “Yeah. It’s a new decade. A new start. A new life, in a lot of ways.” He holds Rin’s gaze and says, as bluntly as ever, “I want to live that life with you.”

There’s a Mini Rin inside Rin’s head that starts cart-wheeling and throwing stuff at walls. Actual Rin just says, “Okay then. Just so you know, I’m very high maintenance.”

Haru rolls his eyes. “Of course you are,” he mutters.

Rin continues, sweeping his arms through the air. “I expect frequent swimming races. Extravagant parties. Movie nights. Cute surprises. Declarations of love in the street.” Haru’s expression is becoming more and more horrified, so Rin says, “I want to go to space. I want you to memorise the dates of all my important life events. I’m very important, so there’s a lot to learn. Let’s get started with life event one: I was born. So, it was fairly cool that day, and my mother had been drinking a warm milky beverage when –”

“Rin!” Haru exclaims.

Rin laughs. “What?”

“I’m not going to do any of that stuff! Well, the movie nights sound okay, but fuck you if you think I’m going to take you to _space._ ”

Rin smirks. “I’m just teasing, you know.”

Haru groans and covers his eyes. “Well, don’t. I’m exhausted enough already.”

“Sorry,” Rin says.

Haru shrugs and whispers, “me, too.”

Rin wraps his arms around Haru. The raven-haired boy is almost as moody as _he_ is, Rin’s beginning to realise. Haru leans his head against Rin’s shoulder. Rin dances them slowly back and forth. They’re the only ones in the courtyard. There’s a folksy American song playing from the scratchy old radio in the restaurant window. The lyrics drift out around them, fading the night like acid-wash jeans. _“The moon’s laying low in the sky... forcing everything metal to shine... and the sidewalk holds diamonds like a jewellery store case, they argue walk this way, no, walk this way...”_

It’s the sort of slow, sad song that makes Rin feel like he’s seen more of the world than he ever really wants to see. Rin dances slowly with Haru and tries not to think about how life is raw and achy and private, and maybe he’s an intruder for even touching it at all.

Haru sighs. “Makoto broke his leg once. It was near the end of high school.”

Rin strokes his hair. “What happened?”

Haru laughs bitterly. “He ran in front of a car to save a cat.” Rin stays quiet, so Haru continues. “She was this tiny white cat that hung around our street. Makoto loved her. One day she was chasing a bug on the road and a car drove by. But the cat was partially deaf, so she didn’t hear it coming. She was going to get hit, so Makoto just acted on instinct, I guess. In the end the cat was fine, but Makoto broke his leg in three places.”

“Wow.”

Haru sniffles. “It really scared me. I gave him a lecture about not risking his safety and all that. He could have _died_ , you know? But he just kept saying, _‘I nearly didn’t save her. I nearly didn’t save her.’_ It was like he didn’t care about his own pain at all. It took him ages to get over that one tiny thing. And it made me think, what if that cat had been me? What if I got hurt in an accident or... or something else happened to me? Would Makoto be okay? If something happened to Makoto, would I be okay?”

Rin’s not sure that he wants to try to answer those questions.

Haru traces little circles on Rin’s chest. “We were sweet together, but at the time we weren’t healthy, and we both knew it. I depended on Makoto to speak for me, to get me to school on time, to make sure I didn’t get sick and to interact with the world for me. And he depended on me for... for a sense of self-worth or something. In some ways, breaking up was the best thing we could do.”

They fall into silence then; Rin still leading the dance and Haru relaxing into him. Haru seems to have tired himself out from all the talking. The painfully sweet banjo music continues to trickle past them, the singer’s voice carrying silt like a riverbed. _“It all boils down to one quotable phrase, if you love something, give it away...”_

“We agreed to stay friends, of course,” Haru says. “Our friendship had a familiar rhythm to it. It was something we could trust. We were just cutting off a branch of the tree, so the rest of the tree could survive.”

“You did the right thing,” Rin murmurs.

Haru shrugs. “You know, in some ways I kind of looked down on Makoto,” he confesses. It’s barely a whisper.

“You did?”

Haru nods. “He always cared too much about people. It was like he was a gazelle, or grass, or a forest. He saw himself as someone at the bottom of the food chain, and I think he would’ve gladly laid down his life to keep the cycle going. I didn’t understand it. I never cared about cycles or people or interconnected webs. I’ve only ever wanted to swim free. That’s all.”

“I can understand that feeling,” Rin whispers back.

Haru nods. “It was ironic, though. Makoto unwittingly made me care about him as much as he cares about the world.” Rin can hear the unspoken implications of that: _and then he left. He left me with all this compassion and I don’t know what to do with it._

Rin gazes at a streetlight behind Haru. “When my father died, I didn’t really know what to do with to pain,” he says.

Haru looks up at him, distraught. “Rin –”

Rin waves his hand. “Wait, let me finish. Finally I figured, well, think only thing I could do with it was use it. Apply it. So I started paying attention to people the way my father paid attention to me and Gou. I started trying to bring people together the way my father did, dream big like he did, and apply the things he taught me to my life. And eventually, it stopped being about him. It was about the people around me. It was about where I could go and what I could do. He was a part of my life, but not in the same way anymore. It wasn’t about the past anymore. It was about the present and the future. I think that’s the point where I’d truly started to move on.”

Haru nods. “Good. I’m glad. But Rin, I get what you’re saying, and I _know_ all of that.”

Rin shrugs. “Yeah. But Maybe Makoto doesn’t. Maybe he’s just not there yet.”

Haru plays with the buttons on Rin’s shirt, unable to meet his eyes. “So what do I do?”

Rin brushes Haru’s hair out of his eyes. “Just be patient with him. He’ll get there.”

They continue to slow-dance for a while. Haru is graceful without effort, seamlessly becoming a part of that courtyard and that night. Rin’s no expert on beauty; not like Rei. But he thinks that Haru is beautiful. There’s a simple honesty in the way that Haru never tries to be more than what he is. There’s a quiet aura of understanding within him that’s different from Nagisa’s insightfulness, Rei’s analytical skills and Makoto’s steady, soft integrity. It’s the part of him that sees straight through to the heart of the truth. Rin realises then that being with Haru is important, so very important to him.

“Haru?” Rin says.

Haru looks up. “Yeah?”

“Happy birthday.” _I love you._ Rin doesn’t say those words yet. Those are words for another moment, maybe not far off in the future. He takes some of his own advice and has patience.

But here, right now, Haru smiles and hugs Rin tightly. “Thank you.”

Rin hugs Haru back, deciding that patience suits him just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry for the lateness of this update! A lot was going on but I won't ramble because I'm sure you guys know how it is. :p Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

Rin didn’t really expect that planning his first date with Haru would involve, well, Nagisa. He tries not to pout as he pours a flat white, while Nagisa and Rei sit by the counter discussing viable first-date options.

“I really think Rin should take him to the opera,” Rei is saying. “The opera sets just the right mood for a first date. It’s romantic but still tame – you know what Haru is like. Rin can’t be too forward too soon.”

Nagisa snorts. “Yeah, but consider this: mud-fighting.” Nagisa sits back smirking, as if those two words say it all. “I think my work here is done.”

Rei wrinkles his nose. “Who in their right mind would go _mud_ -fighting? That’s a terrible suggestion.”

Nagisa frowns as if he’s genuinely surprised that he needs to argue his position on this. “Um, I beg your pardon? Mud-fighting is the perfect idea.” When Rei and Rin give him sceptical looks, Nagisa continues. “Do I really need to spell this out for you? _Haru loves water_. Mud is, like, sixty percent water.”

Rei gawks.

Nagisa huffs. “And Rin loves fighting! With Haru’s undiscovered but probable love of mud and Rin’s well-established love of fighting, I really think that mud-fighting is the best choice.”

Rin clears his throat. “Okay, well how about something that’s not opera _or_ mud-fighting?”

Nagisa and Rei turn to him, astonished. Rei pushes his glasses up his nose. “And your suggestion would be?”

“A nice restaurant date followed by a movie.”

There’s a pause. The Rei and Nagisa both burst into laughter.

“A restaurant and movie!” Nagisa chortles, almost choking on his own spit.

“I haven’t – laughed this hard – in _so long_ –” Rei gasps, wiping away tears.

“What a guy, what a guy,” Nagisa says, cackling. “Rin, you’re too funny.”

Rin really doesn’t see what’s so funny here. In fact, this whole situation is confusing and kind of awkward. And the most awkward thing about it is that Haru is on shift with him today, and he’s been listening to the whole thing.

Haru looks up from the table he’s been cleaning. “Actually, we’re not going to do any of your suggestions,” he says matter-of-factly. “Because for our first date, _I’m_ taking _Rin_ out. And where I’m taking him is going to be a surprise.”

Rei and Nagisa are lost for words at that. Rin tries not to blush. Decisive Haru is kind of hot.

-

Rin blinks. “An aquarium.”

They’re standing in front of a large, seaside aquarium and Rin is squinting in the bright sunlight after finally being allowed to take of his blindfold. When Haru commits to surprises he really, _really_ commits to them. But to be honest, Rin isn’t even surprised.

Haru’s standing beside him wearing a pleased little smile and a bright blue, dolphin-themed shirt. It’s very cute. “Technically it’s a marine conservation park with a focus on sustainability and ethical treatment of marine animals. But yeah.”

Rin laughs. “And here I was, worrying that _I_ was too predictable.”

Haru frowns. “If you don’t like it –”

Rin holds his hands up quickly. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding. This is nice. I love it.”

Haru still looks doubtful. “It’s better than _mud-fighting_ ,” he declares.

“It’s much better than mud-fighting. And the opera. And Gou’s suggestion.”

“What was Gou’s suggestion?”

Rin snickers. “A cosplay convention.”

Haru laughs. “It’s better than Makoto’s suggestion, too. He suggested that we visit heritage building sites and then go bird-spotting.”

Rin rolls his eyes. “That boy just isn’t right.” When Haru snorts, Rin asks, “So you two made up?”

Haru nods. “Yeah, pretty much. It’s still kind of awkward.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Better.” Haru pauses. “He’s doing yoga twice a day now. So he doesn’t really bother changing out of his yoga pants, except for band gigs. And sometimes not even then.”

Rin swears he feels something explode in his head.

Haru bursts into laughter. “I’m joking! Relax.”

Rin chuckles in embarrassment. “Oh.”

“Yeah. He only does yoga once a day. Now, let’s go see some fish!”

-

Haru, as it turns out, is an Actual Nightmare in human disguise. He tries to make shark noises at a great white shark, which prompts the shark to look at them, which prompts Rin to almost pee his pants. Then Haru asks Rin to try to talk to it.

“Why on Earth would I try to communicate with that?”

Haru looks at him like it’s obvious. “Because you’ll be better at it than me.”

“Why?”

“Because of... you know...” He gestures subtly to Rin’s mouth.

Rin glares. “I’m not part-shark.”

“I know, but –”

“I’m not part-shark!”

People stare. Rin stares back at them until they look away.

“Okay, babe. I know you’re not part-shark.”

Rin is soothed slightly by Haru’s term of endearment. “And even if I was, sharks don’t make noises.”

“Sure, they do.”

“Oh, yeah? What do they sound like, then?”

Haru growls and gnashes his teeth. “They sound like that.”

Rin glances around. People are still looking at them. Haru doesn’t seem to care, which is both sweet and frustrating. “Let’s go see some penguins.”

-

They walk around the penguin exhibit for a good hour, getting absorbed in the tiny birds and their mannerisms. Rin gives up on being self-conscious. He and Haru start playing a game where they communicate to each other only in marine creature sounds, but they stop when a nervous marine park staff member informs Rin that he’s scaring the children. Haru almost cries laughing. They take a selfie with the staff member and send it to Nagisa with the caption, **_got told off at the marine park for scaring small kids. xxx_**

Nagisa sends back a close-up of his curious face with the caption, **_WTF! Explain??????????_**

They agree not to answer and go to buy ice creams instead.

“You know,” Haru muses as they walk along the boardwalk near the ice cream shop, “one time Nagisa stole a penguin.”

“ _What?_ ”

Haru licks his ice cream thoughtfully. “It was on a school field trip to an aquarium a bit like this. He found an unlocked passageway into the enclosure and just took one. Then he put it in Makoto’s bag because his own bag was full of random crap. It was pretty funny, actually. We didn’t find out until we were on the bus, halfway back to school.”

“Oh my goodness. You’re serious.”

“Yeah. I was sitting next to Makoto and we were both sort of half-asleep. Nagisa was sitting behind us, trying to flirt with Rei. Then Makoto turned to me with this terrified expression and said, _Haru-chan, I think something’s moving in my bag_.”

Rin’s not sure whether his eyes are watering from amusement or mortification. “Shit. Then what happened?”

“One of the guys in front of us said that we should throw the bag out the window. Then Nagisa yelled, _no, that’s my penguin!_ So we opened the bag and sure enough, there was a penguin inside.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. Then Rei told the teacher and we had to turn the bus around and go back to return the penguin. But the driver did this crazy U-turn and the penguin started freaking out and biting Rei. Rei was pretty pissed off. But he couldn’t just bite the penguin back, so he bit Nagisa instead.”

“How much of this story is bullshit?”

“None of it, honestly. Then Nagisa bit Rei back. Then they started making out, and meanwhile there was still this penguin on the bus. It started pulling Makoto’s hair. I had to fight it off.”

“You guys were wild.”

Haru’s face is pink from the exhilaration of the memory. “We really were, weren’t we? So we returned the penguin and Nagisa got suspended. His parents were so furious with him that he came to stay at my place for a week. Nagisa and Makoto both got sent to see the school counsellor – Makoto because he was so freaked out by the whole thing and Nagisa because he fucking _stole a penguin_.”

“That’s... that’s really something.”

“Yeah. We all cleaned up our acts the next year when Makoto decided to revive the swim club.”

Rin smiles. “I’m proud of you.”

Haru snorts. “I’m proud of Nagisa.”

They buy some fries and sit on a bench by the water. Rin tells Haru about being ten and helping Sousuke beat up a party clown, then Haru tells Rin about the time Makoto’s little siblings tried to make Haru the president of the world. They designed posters and everything. Rin tells Haru about the time Gou held an art show, sold her paintings and made enough money to fly to Australia to visit him. Lounging in the afternoon sun, Rin rests his head on Haru’s shoulder and murmurs, “Haru?”

Haru murmurs back sleepily. “Mmhm?”

“We’re going to make great memories together, right?”

Haru hums. “Of course.”

“How do you know?”

Haru shrugs. “Great times make great memories. And I’m having a great time with you. It’s simple.”

Rin smiles. “That’s nice.” He presses a kiss to Haru’s cheek. “I’m having a great time with you, too.”

Haru’s friends have warned Rin about Haru’s hatred of clichés, but Haru just smiles. Something about it is uncharacteristically vulnerable. “Rin?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, for like... like... this. Us. Shit, I don’t know.” Rin tries and fails to cover a smirk. Haru thwacks him on the shoulder. “Get lost! I’m trying to be talkative and deep and stuff, you brat.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s _so_ talkative and deep and stuff.”

“Fuck you. As I was _saying_... just... I’ve always thought of myself as being one type of person. But when I’m with you, I feel like I can be different... types of... _stop making fun of me_ , you jerk-ass bat turd!”

Rin holds his hands up in surrender. “I wasn’t! I’m sorry! You’re just cute. And wow, you have a colourful vocabulary. But I get what you’re saying.”

Haru frowns sceptically. “You do?”

Rin makes a kissy face. “You’re saying that you love my abs and you want to have my babies.”

Haru flushes. “Forget it.” He crosses his arms and turns away.

Rin flaps his arms in panic. “Sorry! I’ll stop teasing.” He snuggles up to Haru. Haru eventually sighs and looks back at him. “But listen,” Rin continues. “You don’t have to force yourself to say anything. You’re actually pretty eloquent when you speak from your heart without thinking about it.”

Haru looks doubtful. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Rin smiles and pats him on the head. “But I’m still faster than you at swimming.”

“You are not!” Haru’s insecurity is replaced by a smug grin – he knows where this is going.

Rin flexes his muscles. “Are you willing to prove it?”

“Yes.”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

“With a race?”

“Shut _up_ , Rin, _yes_.”

They leave the last of their chips for the seagulls and run down to the beach beside the marine park. They’re both wearing their swimming costumes under their clothes, of course. When Haru hits the water his features soften into pure bliss. Rin dives under the waves just a second after him (Rin’s a faster runner than Haru, but his fashion is better so it takes him longer to get undressed). For a split second before the race starts, Rin lets the waves reach him the way they reach Haru. And in that single moment, he allows himself to feel the bliss.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this chapter: an intervention is staged and drugs are referenced (but no drugs are actually taken)

Rin’s not entirely sure if Makoto is talking to them.

Well, obviously Makoto still _talks to_ them. He’s a nice dude. But Rin and Haru have been officially dating for two weeks now, and Makoto just... isn’t around much. He’s always occupied with band practice, uni work or talking over the phone in a hushed voice. Under normal circumstances Rin would categorise this as a Good Situation: his boyfriend’s ex-boyfriend is distant, pre-occupied and apparently not mooning over Haru. But these are not normal circumstances because a) Rin cares about Makoto and b) Rin’s pretty sure that Makoto is the one mildly stable person in their eccentric little group. Though it pains Rin to admit it, they need him.

It’s late afternoon and Rin and Haru are sitting in a small bar, watching Makoto and Kisumi set up for the night’s gig. Nagisa is prancing around stage, inspecting cables. Whenever Kisumi tries to shoo him away, Nagisa protests, “I’m being helpful!” Kisumi rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue, because they can all tell that Nagisa is just trying to take care of Makoto in his own way.

Rin takes a sip of his drink and nudges Haru. “Did you and Makoto have another fight?” he whispers.

Haru shakes his head. He’s visibly despondent, staring down at his own drink and only occasionally glancing at the stage. “No.”

“What’s going on, then?”

“He’s... never mind.”

Rin sits back, frustrated. He’s pretty sure that there’s not much he can do to shake Haru out of this quiet mood. And there’s definitely nothing he can do to get anymore information out of him. He wonders if this is Haru falling back into the patterns of co-dependence, or if Haru’s really just that sensitive to other people. Maybe Haru himself doesn’t even know. Rin is starting to learn that the raven-haired boy doesn’t always assign words to his emotions.

-

During the intermission of Makoto’s set, Nagisa grabs Rin by the collar of his shirt and drags him backstage. “Oi!” Rin growls. “This is a nice shirt. Let go of me. I’ve squished people much bigger and meaner than you before.”

Nagisa shushes him, completely unfazed. “Sshh, Rin-chan. We’re on a mission.”

“I’ve really had it with your _missions_ –”

Nagisa silences him with a serious look. “We’re on a mission to stop Mako-chan from eating cocaine.”

Rin feels a strange urge to push his glasses up his nose and frown at Nagisa quizzically, and he’s literally never worn prescription glasses in his life. He settles for lifting his chin and flaring his nostrils instead. “Um... what?”

Nagisa nods like he’s just heralded the return of the plague. “It’s sad but true. Our Mako-chan needs help.”

“Nagisa,” Rin hedges, “Cocaine isn’t really a thing that people _eat..._ ”

Nagisa eyes him suspiciously. “You seem to know what you’re talking about, eh?”

Rin splutters. “I’ve watched TV! Leave me alone. I’m moving to Italy and joining a convent. You’re not invited. I hope we never meet again,” he says, turning away.

“Rin-chan!” Nagisa exclaims, grabbing Rin’s wrist. Rin sighs and turns back. Nagisa looks up at him with wide eyes. “Please. At least come and check things out with me. I’m really worried,” he begs, lips trembling.

Rin groans. His life was so, so, so much easier before he met Nagisa.

But that was also before he met Haru, so he definitely wouldn’t go back.

“Okay,” he says with a longsuffering sigh. Nagisa thanks him profusely and they skulk further backstage. “But Nagisa, this is _Makoto_ we’re talking about. He went home early from a party last week so that he could help some girl scouts sell cookies in the morning and still get eight hours of sleep. I’m _literally one hundred percent sure_ that he’s not taking drugs.”

-

Rin might need to adjust his estimate to sixty-five percent.

Rin and Nagisa are crouched behind a door, spying on Makoto. Makoto is in an alley behind the bar, talking to a shady-looking woman in dark sunglasses. She’s got a tiny skirt and deep purple lipstick. Makoto keeps calling her _‘Mayumi-san.’_

Mayumi-san keeps mentioning ‘the arrangements’ and Makoto is periodically insisting that his friends ‘don’t need to know about this yet.’ It’s sketchy. Very sketchy.

Then Mayumi-san gives Makoto a thick envelope and Nagisa almost lets out a sob.

“This is going to be a wonderful hit,” Mayumi-san exults.

Makoto shakes Mayumi-san’s hand. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you,” he says kindly. “See you soon.”

Rin takes that as their cue to go. “Move, he’s coming this way,” Rin hisses to Nagisa. Nagisa doesn’t budge, so Rin knees him in the shoulder. “Move!”

They scramble away from the door and bolt back to the bar’s guest area. When they make their way back to Haru, Nagisa dumps himself in Haru’s lap and bursts into tears.

Haru sits back, pulling a perturbed face. He looks at Rin for help. “What...?”

“Mako-chan’s taking _drugs_ ,” Nagisa wails. “He’s buying them from a hitwoman!”

Rin sits awkwardly beside them. “We don’t know that she’s a _hitwoman_ ,” he tries.

Nagisa shoots him a scornful look. “She spoke about a hit! What do you think that means? She was wearing _purple lipstick_ , Rin-chan. Of course she was a hitwoman.”

Rin pinches the bridge of his nose. “It did look a little seedy,” he admits to Haru. “We saw him talking to this woman in an alley. And then she gave him a package.” He worries his lips. “There might have been drugs.”

Haru looks at Rin sadly for a moment. “He’s _Makoto_ ,” he protests.

“I know.”

“He wouldn’t. There has to be another explanation.”

“I know. But whatever he was up to, he said that he didn’t want us to know about it,” Rin adds.

Haru plays absently with Nagisa’s hair. “I just haven’t been able to get a read on him lately,” he says at last.

Rin shrugs. “We should just ask him about it. If he lies, I’m sure you’ll know.”

Haru agrees. Nagisa sits up. “Does this mean we’re staging an intervention?” he asks, a little less despondent.

Rin groans. “Yes, Nagisa. We’re staging an intervention."

-

They confront Makoto after the show.

Rei is there too, because Nagisa called him urgently despite the exam he’d been studying for. Apparently Rei is the King of Interventions. (Rin honestly doesn’t want to know.)

The four of them shuffle backstage, where Rei instantly goes into LARP detective mode. He pushes his glasses up his nose. “Okay. Here’s the plan. We’re going to march straight in and confront the suspect head on.” He points at Nagisa. “You’re the little guy, so you ask the initial questions, but stand slightly behind me.” He points at Rin. “You’re the big guy with the teeth, so you stand beside me and look scary.” He points at Haru. “You... you’re a free spirit. Don’t ever change.” Finally, he clenches his fist. “I’m the judgemental guy. I’m here to make him crack.”

Nagisa tugs on Rei’s sleeve. “Um, Rei-chan... we’re here to _take_ his crack.”

Rei points at Nagisa again. “That too.”

They find Kisumi playing Candy Crush Saga on the lounge in the VIP area. “Kisumi-chan,” Nagisa greets him sternly. “Where’s Mako-chan? It’s important.”

Kisumi glances up at them and points his finger in the direction of the dressing room. “He’s in there.”

They approach the dressing room in group formation. As Rei prepares to knock on the door, it swings open.

Makoto stands there, freshly showered, massaging his hair with a towel and drinking a green juice. “Oh, hey guys!” he says, smiling sunnily. “Did you enjoy the show? I messed up a few notes in the final guitar solo but I don’t think anyone noticed. Kisumi said I did a really good save, anyway.” He looks at them all, standing nervously on his toes. “So... did you like it?”

There’s a heavy pause. Haru breaks it with a gentle smile. “You performed well.”

Rei, Rin and Nagisa all shush Haru with pointed hisses. Makoto raises his eyebrows. “Guys?”

Rei addresses Makoto very formally. “We have a bone to pick with you.”

Makoto blinks. “Oh?”

Rei nods. “Since you’re not being forthcoming, I’m just going to come out and say it. We have reason to believe that you’re engaging in illicit drug use and fraternising with hitwomen.”

Makoto nearly chokes on his green juice. “I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

Nagisa chimes in. “We want you to stop having doped-up, murderous orgies!”

Makoto splutters. “What does that even _mean?_ ”

“Do the words ‘ _purple lipstick’_ sound familiar to you?” Nagisa retorts.

“Guys, get it together,” Rin growls. He stares straight at Makoto. “Nagisa and I saw you in the alley talking to Mayumi-san. We saw her give you that package.”

Rei nods emphatically. “What’s in the package, huh?”

Makoto huffs in pure exasperation. “Look, I really don’t need this right now –”

“But you do!” Nagisa bursts out. His expression crumples. “You need us. You need your friends. Please don’t shut us out.” He takes a step towards Makoto and grabs his shirt. “We’re really worried about you. You haven’t been talking to us much lately and you always seem stressed out. And we saw you in the alley and – and we know you’re keeping a secret, and okay, we don’t know for sure that it’s drugs but it’s something.” He wipes away a stray tear. “We all really love you, you know. You were one of my first friends, and my favourite captain and we all just really love you. Even Rin-chan loves you, despite the fact that he dreams about biting you sometimes.”

“I do not!” Rin interjects. “Will you _lay off my teeth?_ ”

“Shush, Rin-chan,” Nagisa says through hiccups. He clings to Makoto’s shirt, crying brokenly. “That’s why – that’s why w-we can’t let you go down this path, Mako-chan. We can’t let you take drugs.”

Makoto gazes at them all in shock for a moment. His mouth is hanging open, expression inappropriately comical considering the direness of the situation. Then he bursts into laughter. He covers his face and wipes his eyes. Nagisa peers up at him in confusion. Makoto takes a few deep breaths, eyes gleaming with mirth. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for laughing. Let me get this straight. You think Mayumi-san’s a _drug_ _dealer?_ ”

Nagisa sniffles and nods.

Makoto bites his lip. “And you think that _I’ve_ been taking drugs?”

Rei scratches his ear. “Well, yes. You’re tired half the time and wound up the rest of the time. You’re distant. And you’re clearly keeping something from us.” He adjusts his glasses and glares at Makoto, daring him to argue.

Makoto cringes. “Drugs, though? _Me?_ Really?” When they’re silent, Makoto sighs. “Look, I’m sorry for worrying you all like that. I really am. But you’re completely misunderstanding the situation. I’m absolutely fine. Mayumi-san isn’t a drug dealer. She’s a music agent. The package she gave me was an information package.” He beams. “She’s offered the band an opportunity to tour Japan. I wanted to get everything finalised before I told you guys. Because – well – we said yes.”

There’s another long pause. Again, Haru’s the one to break it. “Wait. You’re leaving?”

Makoto nods. “Only for a couple of months. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” he says sincerely. “I really just wanted to get everything finalised first. I’ll have to defer my studies for a semester, which is fine, thank goodness. And I’ve just applied to take leave from my job at the swimming school.” He smiles sheepishly. “I guess keeping it a secret wasn’t really a great plan, huh? Who got the _drug_ idea, anyway?”

Four pairs of eyes turn to Nagisa. Nagisa scratches the back of his ear. “I... um... well, I...” He suddenly straightens up, expression bright. “Hey, there’s cotton candy!” he cheers. He turns and runs away.

Rin honestly thinks he might step on somebody. “I helped _stage an intervention_. Because of him.”

Rei’s face has gone red with embarrassment. “I apologise for the misunderstanding,” he says stiffly.

Makoto scoops him up in a hug. “It’s fine,” he says. “I’m sure I’d have done the same thing if I was worried about one of you guys. I’m flattered that you care,” he says, stepping back and patting Rei appreciatively on the shoulder.

“Of course we care.” Haru frowns up at Makoto. “ _Of course_ we care.”

Makoto looks vaguely flustered. “I know, I didn’t mean... I know. Anyway, I hope you guys aren’t too mad at me,” he says uncertainly. “I was planning to tell you really soon.”

Rin snorts. “I think it’s great,” he declares, surprising himself.

Makoto’s eyes widen. “Really?”

Rin grins and claps on the shoulder. “Yeah! You’re getting out there and pursuing your dreams. I like a guy with ambition,” he says heartily.

Haru looks from Rin to Makoto and smiles as well. “Me, too. I’m proud of you.”

Rei gestures grandiosely. “We always knew you’d do great things!” he crows.

Makoto chuckles. “Thanks, guys. Rin, I’m kind of lucky that you’re so easy to impress.” He sips on his green juice and steps past them. “I’d better go chat to Nagisa, y’know, make sure he’s okay. Later!” With that, Makoto wanders off to find their impulsive friend.

Rin stares at his retreating form. “...What the heck is that supposed to mean?”

Haru tries to suppress a small smile. “Pardon?”

“I’m not _easy to impress_. I’m hypercritical! I drive a hard bargain!”

Rei actually has the nerve to cackle. “Oh, sure.”

Haru and Rei turn to leave in unison. Rin scowls and hurries after them. “Hey! I’m very difficult to impress. I didn’t like _any_ of you guys at first. I’m naturally suspicious. Stop laughing at me!”

Haru dissolves into cute giggles while Rei releases a long peal of obnoxious guffaws. Rin is outraged to have friends like this. Yes, they’re secretly great and yes, he’s secretly the happiest he’s ever been in his life, but still. What a scandal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!! I'm sorry this update took so long! ;U;


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